ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:46 No. 448479 ID: 4b44fc
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You wake up to shouting. They always shout after you go to sleep. You assume they do it to spare you their adult indecencies while you are awake, but you find the concern shallow. Your father doesn't think you're his, and, when the sounds of shouting devolve into the sounds of your mother sobbing in the next room of your run-down trailer in the middle of nowhere, you hope he's right.

Contemplating the full moonlight streaming through your blinds, you decide that you're getting pretty tired of those sounds. Your days are full of new experience but your nights are always reruns. You put on your slippers and slide your window open and resolve to come back before sunrise. At least this way, when your middle school teachers ask you why you look so tired tomorrow, you'll have a fun reason to lie to them instead of the usual.

Your name is Evan Tolston and the night is your playground. Behind your house are deep woods where you can let your imagination run free. There's a great creek out there where you can go catch some frogs or dig up some crystals, a fort you've been working on out in a clearing, your father's shed with the broken lock, and who knows what else. You've never managed to explore the entire place. Where do you go first?

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:46 No. 448480 ID: 4b44fc
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As you wind your way through the woods, you listen intently to the sounds of the night creatures shuffling around in the darkness, and the wind blowing lazily through the treetops overhead. You occasionally hear the sounds of a twig snap of a leaf rustle, but you are not scared. You know these woods well.

As you near the fort, however, you hear something strange ahead. You pick up a tough-looking stick with a wicked knot on the end and creep forward.

It sounds like a girl giggling.

As you step around some trees obscuring the fort from view, you accidentally step on a twig, making a loud snap. The giggling stops, and you freeze in place. You peek around the tree trunk and you think you see something dark dart out of view. You are also surprised to see that the candles inside are lit and...

...Oh no. The big rubber lid of your storage box is on the ground. You've got some...well, some drawings in there. And a magazine you looted from an abandoned trailer a few lots over. Neither of them are things adults think someone your age should be looking at.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:47 No. 448481 ID: 4b44fc
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As quickly and quietly as you can, you scramble up the nearest tree with your stick, your heart pounding through your chest. At least you know with a high vantage point, no one can get the drop on you.

You crouch in a tall branch and peer down through the darkness at your fort. the flickering candlelight inside makes the shadows shiver, and you startle more than once when its dancing edges seem to take the shape of a person.

Several minutes pass, and you see nothing. What now?

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:47 No. 448482 ID: 4b44fc
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Listening carefully, you slowly inch your way down the tree. You tumble a bit off the last branch and quickly spring to your feet, then approach the fort. Peering around the edge of the doorframe, you see no one inside. You rush to the box and grab up the knife you found in the yard, clicking it open before you go about inspecting the rest of the box's contents. You note with some embarrassment that some of your drawings are missing. The magazine is still there, with the lady on the front making the obviously-fake attempt to cover herself. Your flute and pencils are here, and your collection of cool rocks. You think there are less packets of crackers than you remember.

You hear a giggle outside, and you whirl around brandishing your knife. You can't see anyone, but you hear a feminine voice. "Your drawings are terrible!" She giggles again.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:47 No. 448484 ID: 4b44fc
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You stand and brandish the knife as threateningly as you know how, advancing to the doorway. "They're mine! Give them back!" you shout.

The giggle comes again from, deep in the darkness to your left. "This part doesn't go on the front. I bet you've never seen a girl naked before!"

You whirl to the left, your eyes darting back and forth, and you feel your face growing redder. "I...I have too! That's none of your business! Give me back my stuff!"

This time, the voice comes from the other side, to the right of the door. "Hee hee, you're a terrible drawer and a terrible liar too. What's the matter? You gonna poke me with that pointy thing, hmm?"

You put on your most serious face, like you see heroes in movies making when they are really mad. "I will if I have to!" You can't see anything to the right, either.

"Hmmmm," says the voice, this time from in the darkness in front of you. "Nope, I don't believe that, either." She giggles again, but this time the voice is coming from directly above you. You look up, and are shocked to see a girl on the roof of your fort, looking down at you over the edge. "Well? You gonna invite me in, or what?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:48 No. 448485 ID: 4b44fc
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"No," you reply staunchly. "This is my fort. No girls allowed!"

"No? What about these girls?" she asks, and holds up my drawings.

"Those are just drawings! Give them back, you spy!"

She giggles again. "You're cute. How about this: We'll play truth or dare. Every time you answer honestly or do a dare, I'll give you a drawing back. I have three. Deal?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:48 No. 448487 ID: 4b44fc
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You cross your arms. "I... Okay, but only if you promise to stay out of my fort from now on!" You respond, sourly.

The girl grins excitedly and pushes herself up on her elbows. You are startled to realize she isn't wearing a shirt. "Great! Well? You go first. Truth or dare?"

You try and push down the weirdness of the fact that you're playing truth or dare with a naked girl in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night to recover your hand-drawn pornography.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:49 No. 448489 ID: 4b44fc
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You fold up your knife (your pajama pants do not have pockets, unfortunately) and respond, "truth!" as confidently as you can, trying to mask your excitement.

She looks a little disappointed. You were having a hard enough time checking out her chest in the darkness before she slumped over on the fort roof. "What's the farthest you've ever been with a girl?"

The honest answer is you had a girlfriend in second grade who you would kiss on the cheek sometimes, but you don't think that would impress her much. Do you tell her that, or do you make something up?

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:49 No. 448490 ID: 4b44fc
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You shake your head at your strange urge to impress her. You were too busy thinking about how she's naked and kind of cute to think about how you met her naked in the middle of the woods at night. "Kissed on the cheek," you say. Despite your resolution to not care about what this girl thinks of you, you feel embarrassed, and her subsequent fit of giggling certainly doesn't do anything to subdue the rising heat in your cheeks.

She drops one of the pages down to you. "Dare," she says.

"What? You don't get to pick what I do!" you say, indignantly.

"Haha, haven't you ever played truth or dare before? It's my turn now. I pick dare. What's your dare? And you can't dare me to give you the rest of the pictures back!"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:50 No. 448491 ID: 4b44fc
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Feeling a little hurt about how she thought your art was awful, you say, "Fine, if you think my art is so bad, let's see you draw something better!"

She sits up eagerly. "Ooh, clever. But I'll need some paper, and some light to draw by. Evan, why don't we go into your fort together so I can draw?

You are momentarily awestruck by all the bare skin she's revealing to you, pale and shining in the light from the candles and the moon. You've seen pictures, but this is the first naked girl you've seen up close besides your mom. The way she's got her arms pressed together squeezes her chest, the way her position just barely obscures what's between her legs to you... you start to mumble something about how that would be okay just this once, but something clicks in your head. "Wait. How did you know my name?"

She smiles broadly. "Did I say truth?"

"What?" You ask.

"No. I said dare. If I said truth, then I'd have to answer a question. But, I said dare, and you dared me to draw you something good. Now, why don't we go into the light of the fort, so I can show you my art?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:50 No. 448492 ID: 4b44fc
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You sigh. "Fine. But, just this once, and only if you don't take anything else," you reply. You walk inside the fort and drop the picture in the box with the others. You don't hear her moving outside.

You turn around and look up, but the girl is gone. She still has your other two pictures! You are about to yell something out to her, when you hear the rustle of paper behind you, inside the fort. Before you can turn around, you feel the girl's arms wrap around you. She pulls you closer and presses her warm body against your back, then holds a piece of paper in front of your face.

You feel her face against yours and turn to look at her . Her skin and hair are both pale in the shivering candlelight, but her eyes scare you a little. They're totally black, with no white parts. "Evan," she coos softly in your ear, "look at what I drew for you."

You tear your eyes away, ever mindful of the warmth pressed against you, trying fruitlessly to suppress your growing excitement. "T...there's no way you drew this so...so...is that us?" You both go silent for a moment. "That's really good," you say, despite yourself.

You can feel the girl grin and lean in close to your ear. "Truth or dare?" she whispers.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:50 No. 448493 ID: 4b44fc
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"Dare," you say resolutely.

The girl grins even wider. She slips her hand under your shirt and slides it up a little. "Play me a song on your flute," she says quietly.

You're a little disappointed. You were expecting it to be something a little more lascivious, the way she was pressing herself against you and whispering in your ear. "I'm not all that good..." you say.

She keeps pulling your shirt higher. "You didn't let me finish. Play me a song on your flute...without these clothes. Show me what you really are...capable of."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:52 No. 448496 ID: 4b44fc
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You briefly consider returning to the fort, but you realize you are already inside. The fort was never quite as grandiose in reality as it was in your imagination, but now, with her here, it feels... well, closer, somehow. The candlelight sparks and fizzles as you strip naked and retrieve your flute. Songs drift through your mind...simple things that you know you can play, but you suddenly realize that it doesn't matter.

You put the flute to your lips and the music pours out. The fire sparks again, and the girl whose name you still don't know moves her lithe, sinuous body to the tune. She dances across the fire and you find your body moving as well. The two of you circle each other, dancing with the flames, whose heat now radiates from the massive pillars in the center of the cavern. This fortress.

You and the girl meet again at the other side of the flame. You let the music die down as she draws herself closer to you.

"Truth," she says. "This is the only time I will say it."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:52 No. 448497 ID: 4b44fc
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"Who, what, are you?" you ask, after some deliberation.

She smiles. "My name is Elle. I am the shadows the full moon casts through the leaves. I came here tonight to show you where you came from. Does that answer your question?"

"I...not really," you respond.

She giggles again. "Well, that's all you get. Truth or dare?" She trails her hand down the center of your chest down towards your unabashed erection. "I would hope that I am not making the choice too difficult for you."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:52 No. 448498 ID: 4b44fc
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You smile and pull her closer to you. "What can I say? You've picked for me."

Elle giggles and brings her lips an inch from yours. You feel her warm breath as she touches you and says, "You know what I want."

You close your eyes as you press your lips to hers, and the two of you tumble into the soft earth. You feel her heat, and the warmth and light of the fire, as the two of you become one under the dappled moonlit shadows streaming in through the trees overhead. She rocks sinuously atop you and breathes out your name, as the brightness of the light becomes unbearable.

The light forces its way into your eyes and you open them, feeling an uncomfortable mess in your pajama pants. You rub the sleep out of your eyes and make a disgusted face, peeling the covers back to not spread the mess any further.

Under the blankets, you find four pieces of paper.

End chapter 1.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:53 No. 448499 ID: 4b44fc
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The Fair Folk, Chapter 2

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:54 No. 448500 ID: 4b44fc
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Your name is Evan Tolston. You are 12 years old and you are currently bored out of your mind. You get a four-day weekend off from school, but you've been dragged out to your grandfather's ranch for the entirety of it. It wouldn't be so bad if you could watch the TV, but the adults have it locked down on the news of this stupid solar flare thing. Not even the cool stuff, they're talking about banks and airplanes and hospitals and crap like that.
You've been sitting at the kitchen table doodling for the past hour or so, but you're getting tired of that. You grab a flashlight and ask your grandfather if you can go play outside. He gives you a dismissive gesture and takes another sip of his beer.
You decide that counts as tacit approval.
You step out onto the porch and see the sun sinking below the distant trees. Even though the sun isn't fully set yet, you think there are already more stars out than you can usually see at night from your parents' trailer outside the city. It's supposed to be a full moon tonight, and your knowledge of astronomy tells you that means it must be rising on the other side of the house. The first bit of the solar flare is supposed to have hit a couple hours ago, but you couldn't see any lights in the sky or anything. It's supposed to get stronger, though.
Your grandfather has a lot of land. There's a big barn out in the field, and some cows wandering around. There's a chicken coop off to the side of the house...they're probably asleep already, but you could probably wake them up. There's a big creek running along the back of the land, and the rest is woods. You've found remains of an old house with a well back there, And there's an awesome giant tree you climb sometimes. Also, your uncle has a little shack that he goes to to shoot guns and drink beer sometimes. Maybe there's still some beer there.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:55 No. 448501 ID: 4b44fc
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You set out into the woods in the direction of the tall tree. It's definitely getting dark out there, but you think you know the way well enough not to get lost. As the leaves begin to obscure the light from the sun, you click on your flashlight, winding your way through the undergrowth until you reach the tree. You kind of wish you had brought your flute with you from your fort by the trailer; something about this reminds you of a weird dream you had about a month ago.
You tuck the flashlight in your pocket as good as you can, and hop up to grab the first branch. You are proud of your tree climbing skills; you are absolutely the best at climbing that you know of. You easily pull yourself up and clamber your way up the winding branches.
You climb for a long while, totally focused on the next branch and how to get to it, when you realize that it seems like you've been climbing for too long. It feels like you must have been climbing for miles by now. It's like this tree never ends. You're sure that normally you would reach the part of the tree where the branches get too thin to support you by now.
Shaking the thought out of your head, you see an opening in the leaves above and grab onto that branch to pull yourself up. However, you are surprised to find your hand hit something that feels like coarse cloth.
The object seems light enough, so you pull it down and click your flashlight on to inspect it better.
It's an odd doll that you've never seen before. It is roughly made, and the inside seems to be filled with lots of small, hard things, like pebbles or something.
As you hop up to the next branch, you look out towards the setting sun to get your bearings. Since you were walking away from the sun to get to the tree, you expect to see the lights of your grandpa's ranch somewhere at the end of the trees, but...
...Well, you can't see the end of the trees at all, much less any lights.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:55 No. 448502 ID: 4b44fc
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You feel weird about this. Nothing seems familiar in this landscape at all, and you're way too high up. Your heart starts beating a little harder and you resolve to climb down immediately. You grab onto the branch you're standing on and lower yourself down, when you hear a voice, so deep it shakes the tree branch, coming from above.
"Give him back!"
You look up in a panic. You can't see anything in the darkness, but you can see that the tree is all wrong.
It doesn't seem to stop.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:55 No. 448503 ID: 4b44fc
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Your eyes dart back and forth through the dark branches. This is crazy. You have to be hearing things. Oh god that's what they always think in all of those stories...
Your heart beating through your chest, there's only one thing you can think to do. You carefully set the doll back down on the branch.
"Oh, my darling," says the voice again, sounding strangely deep for the message. "Did the big meany hurt you?" The tone of the voice shifts several octaves higher in the middle of the sentence, now sounding rather feminine. Something tiny zips by through the air and plucks the doll off the tree.
"He's a what?" the voice asks, and the figure flits back, hovering right in front of you.
It's a tiny woman.
it's a tiny, talking, flying woman, holding a doll that's as big as she is.
Several seconds pass in silence until the tension becomes unbearable.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" you shout.
"AAAAAAAAH!" the tiny woman shouts back.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:55 No. 448504 ID: 4b44fc
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You stop screaming and take a deep breath. the tiny woman laughs ecstatically and does a little flip in the air. "That was fun!" she says. "Terrified screaming is great! Wanna do it again?"
"I, what? No," you say, still trying to calm yourself. You notice with a shudder that she's got the same weird black eyes that the girl from your dream did. "Where am I?"
She looks confused, and a little offended. "Hey! I don't go barging through YOUR house, take your friends, and ask you where I am," she responds.
"I...I'm sorry for taking your uh..." You begin, not sure how to refer to the doll.
Her face brightens. "Mr. buttons is sorry too," she replies. "He thought you were a human! Must be because of the eyes. Neat trick!"
"Right," you reply. "And um, what are you?"
The tiny woman blushes a little. "Ooh, aren't you forward! We just met, and we haven't even played a game yet! How about hide and seek?"
Before you can even respond, she zips away down toward the ground. "You're it!" she yells to you, and disappears into the darkness.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:56 No. 448505 ID: 4b44fc
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You work your way slowly down the tree, trying not get overly excited and slip. On your way, you find yourself on the opposite side of the trunk. The light from the moon filters through the leaves, leaving dappled shadows on everything you see. You feel calmer, more serene, braver, as if you are being watched over by someone. This serenity lasts even as you turn and see that the moon is very different; it now appears to be a magnificent white city inside a bowl.
You take a deep breath and find your way to the ground, finding the trip down to be unexpectedly short. The wind picks up, and you hear what sounds like whispers in the leaves all around you as you search for the tiny woman.
The whispers grow louder and louder as you search, causing you to stop and whirl your flashlight around in search of their source. They reach a crescendo, and suddenly converge on a single source, far to your left.
Looking up, you see trails of light in the sky.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:56 No. 448506 ID: 4b44fc
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You follow the sounds of the whispers, which gradually change into identifiable voices as you get closer. As you go around a large tree, the sources of the voices come into view, and your calm serenity fails you.
There is a boy and three girls arrayed around a fire in a pit in the ground. Flanking them on either side are two tall figures covered in cracks that glow like hot embers.
One of the girls points to you as soon as you see her. The boy turns to face you.
It's you.
He makes a gesture, and the two cinder creatures start to lumber out into the woods on either side. "Hello, border-walker," he calls out, a sinister edge in his voice. In YOUR voice. "it's been a long time."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:56 No. 448507 ID: 4b44fc
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You take a couple of slow steps backwards. "That's uh, nice," you respond. "Mind if I join you there?"
He grins widely. "That would be...wonderful," he responds.
You think that pretty much confirms it would be a bad idea, and take another step backwards. The cinder creatures start to close in on you from the sides. On the far side of the tree, you bump into another one of those giant mushrooms, and see rays of moonlight streaming in on top of it from a gap in the branches.
The tiny woman pops out from under the cap of the mushroom. "You found me!" she says excitedly, then looks back, first at the mushroom, then at the copy of you by the fire, then at the cinder creatures. "Wait this isn't where- oh." She turns to you with a panicked expression. "It's the prince. You should go home!" and starts to push you away.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:57 No. 448508 ID: 4b44fc
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You start to turn and run, when the tiny woman grabs the back of your shirt. "Where are you going? I'm serious! It's the prince of the black court! Go home!"
"What? I'm trying!" you respond.
"You just skipped a perfectly good boundary," she responds, pointing to the line on the ground cast by the moonlight above. You look up at the moon above as the tiny woman pushes you.
You wake up in your bed.
Wait.
You wake up in YOUR bed, at your parent's trailer, miles away from your grandfather's ranch. His flashlight is still in your pocket. Your shoes are still on.
You jump out of bed and try to turn on the light, but the switch does nothing. The power is out.
Panicked, you open the blinds to the window.
You see lights in the sky outside.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:57 No. 448509 ID: 4b44fc
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You slump against the wall and try your best to take stock of your current situation. You're at your house, at least a half hour drive away from where your family is, and where you climbed the tree just a little while ago. The power is out, but the phones may be working, and your grandfather's number is written down by the phone, but you have no idea how to explain how you got here. There are also neighbors, surely someone nearby is home.
You also think back to your fort in the woods, where your flute is. For some reason, you feel like it might come in handy. You're far less sure that what happened a month ago was a dream, now.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:57 No. 448510 ID: 4b44fc
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You decide that you'll try the phone, and if it doesn't work, you'll go for the fort. You run into the kitchen and dial your grandfather's number.
As soon as you put the phone to your ear, you hear your grandfather's voice.
"Hello, boy," he says. "Where are you, I was worried."
You hear the front step creak outside.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:58 No. 448512 ID: 4b44fc
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You are about to tell him a story about how you got a ride and didn't know the way, but something seems weird about this. This is unmistakably your grandfather's voice, but he was talking the instant you put the phone to your ear, and he instantly knew it was you. He would have had to pick up the phone the instant it rang, which is possible, but seems unlike him.
"...Grandpa? Is that you?" you ask, quietly retrieving a frying pan from the cabinet.
"Who else would it be, boy? Where are you?" he responds.
"What's the place you worked at before you retired called, again?" You ask.
"What? Boy, don't play games with me. Tell me where you are."
"Just answer the question, grandpa. I want to make sure it's safe."
"It's safe, boy. I don't have time for this," you can tell he's getting angry, an all-too-common occurrence, "If you don't tell me where you are right this instant I swear by the good lord I will cane you so goddamn hard"
"Grandpa, no. No, you have to answer a question. Uh, how old-"
"I DO NOT have to do anything. Tell me about where you are, BOY!"
"I will not until you answer me! And I'm so sick of you calling me boy all the time! What is my name?"
"TELL ME ABOUT YOUR HOUSE, BORDER-WALKER!"
You hear something slam against the door three times.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:58 No. 448513 ID: 4b44fc
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You go to hit the button that ends the call on the phone, but you realize that it was never really on in the first place. The screen keeps blinking and flickering. You also feel like the last kid in the school to not have a cell phone, but you have a feeling that it wouldn't do much better.
The pounding on the door stops just as you set the flashlight on the ground and brandish your pan at the door, fully expecting something to barge through at any second.
All is silent.
Several minutes pass. You're trying not to be afraid, but it's hard.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:59 No. 448514 ID: 4b44fc
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"Do you want to play a game?" you yell towards the door. You wait a few seconds for a response, but none comes. "If you win, you can come in. If I win, I get to go free! What do you say?"
Still, no response. You go grab the cards too, just in case, while you uneasily consider the implications of having to call Elle for help, before further considering the implications of Elle actually being real to begin with. Holy shit, did you actually have sex? And that whole horns thing...did that actually happen?
Your mind starts reeling as you return to the front room to try the yelling thing one more time.
Oh, great.
The trailer is on fire.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:59 No. 448515 ID: 4b44fc
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You vaguely remember hearing a loud crash and fwoosh one night while mom and father were arguing, and in the morning there was no extinguisher and a big hole in the cabinet door. You scoop up Rodrick and pocket the flashlight again, then bolt for your room on the opposite end of the trailer.
You take a deep breath.
In one smooth motion, you smash through the glass with your frying pan and leap out the ensuing hole in a hail of glittering glass shards. You don't look back, you just run as fast as you can towards the fort, praying that it will prove better at holding back monsters than the trailer will. Instantly, you hear something heavy and loud thumping behind you, at first distant but very quickly becoming much louder. Adrenaline floods your body, your heart races, and you run as hard and as fast as your body is capable of, clinging to Rodrick the cat and the skillet with a death grip, but the thumping gets louder and louder through the wind rushing by your head. "Fuck fuck Elle help Elle Elle help shit" you yell aloud, as you hear a low growl come from right behind your ear.
You hear one word in response.
"Dare."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)15:59 No. 448516 ID: 4b44fc
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"Sa-" you start to yell, but something hits you hard across the back, sending you sprawling across the dirt. You tumble head over heels for several meters, as Rodrick flings himself out of your grasp and bolts into the woods.
"Savemekillthemonsterkillitkillit!" you shout, flailing your skillet wildly.
There is a terrible sound and you are suddenly very wet. You peer out from behind your skillet cautiously, and see a lot of red glistening in the moonlight.
"Three turns each," Elle says from above you. You look up, and see her lounging on a tree branch, looking down at you with a strange smile you can't quite place. "That means playtime is over."

End Chapter 2

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:00 No. 448517 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610841972.png - (231.94KB , 720x979 , 33.png )

The Fair Folk, Chapter 3

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:00 No. 448518 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610845122.png - (374.30KB , 720x3000 , 34.png )

Your name is Evan Tolston, and you are having a very bad night.

The trailer where you live is on fire. You were at your grandfather's house in the country a half-hour drive away, and you have no idea how you got back here in the first place. Someone who looks and sounds exactly like you is out to get you. There is a solar flare happening right now that has apparently knocked out all the power. Your cat ran away. You were just attacked by some kind of strange beast. And finally, in desperation, you called for help from a weird, pale-skinned, black-eyed girl you met almost a month ago, and she somehow made the beast explode on top of you, as the final dare in the truth or dare game you started way back then. You are now soaked in blood.

You push yourself uneasily up to your feet, gripping the handle of the cast-iron skillet as tightly as you can, feeling the reassuring weight of the flashlight in your pocket. The flickering orange glow of your parents' burning trailer home grows steadily brighter behind you. You look up to the branch where Elle was sitting, just in time to see her leap gracefully off the high branch and land in the grass in front of you noiselessly. She steps forward slowly and drags a pale finger across your blood-soaked shirt, an eerie grin on her face.

"You're a mess," she says. "Why don't we go somewhere and get you out of those clothes?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:01 No. 448519 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610846995.png - (161.59KB , 720x1374 , 35.png )

"H-how did you do that?" you ask, still catching your breath.

Elle licks her bloody finger and giggles. "How about 'hello', first? 'Thank you' would be nice, too. Or maybe 'Elle, you're beautiful'." She smiles and starts off into the woods in the direction of your fort.

"Oh, uh...sorry. Hello, it's...good to see you again, I think," you respond, rushing to catch up to her. She giggles again, and you continue, "Thanks for helping."

"I did it because you dared me to," she replies. "Games make us stronger together. You haven't learned anything since I saw you last, have you?" You get a little frustrated with her obtuseness, but before you can muster up a reply, she grabs your skillet-holding arm and holds it up, inspecting it. "This doesn't hurt?" she asks.

"What doesn't hurt?" you respond, still confused. "You holding my arm?"

A smile spreads slowly across her face. "Interesting. Hey, hey, put that down on the ground, I want to try something."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:01 No. 448520 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610848339.png - (227.79KB , 720x2000 , 36.png )

You nod and set the skillet down on the ground. "What was that thing that attacked me? And how did I get from my grandfather's house to my bed in the trailer?"

Elle smiles. "That thing was a waste of a perfectly good talent, and I suspect you traveled like this."

Elle suddenly lunges forward and pushes you hard in the middle of your chest, so hard you're lifted off the ground with the force. You flail as you fall backwards, and gasp as you feel your body hitting cold water. Your momentary confusion at being nowhere near any rivers is quickly replaced by panic, as your gasp causes you to choke.

You push yourself up out of the water, which is only about three feet deep, and cough violently.
When you look around, Elle is nowhere to be found, but you think the area looks similar enough to be somewhere along the creek that passes behind your trailer.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:01 No. 448521 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610850194.png - (229.46KB , 720x2000 , 37.png )

You grumble in annoyance and rub the blood off as good as you can. It's hard to tell in this dim moonlight whether or not it came out of your clothes, but you're pretty sure you got your skin and hair cleaned off.

You are a little startled to realize you don't feel the flashlight in your pocket anymore. In a panic, you feel around on the creek bed for a minute until you find it amongst the silt.

You walk out onto the shore and click the button a few times, disappointed to find it unresponsive. Remembering what you heard about wet electronics, you unscrew the back and shake the batteries out into your palm, so the insides can dry out.

You're a little surprised as the bulb begins to flicker, without the batteries. You look out into the now-illuminated darkness and see that you've unintentionally shone the beam up into the second-story window of a house you don't recognize, but which looks too nice for your neighborhood. On the other side of the house, you see a sudden flash, as sparks begin shooting out of a transformer on a telephone pole. You also see a figure in the window peer down at you, then move back into the darkness.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:01 No. 448522 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610851565.png - (168.87KB , 720x1594 , 38.png )

You consider knocking and asking for directions, but you decide it might be better to find a street sign first. Looking back and forth, you see that the creek runs through several yards with fences, and that this house is the only one nearby with an open gate.

You duck and rush as quickly as you can through the back yard towards the street, and jump in alarm as a rope ladder drops down right in front of you from a window on the second floor.

"You're early!" whispers an eager female voice from overhead. "I thought you said you weren't coming until midnight! I invite you inside. Come on! My parents are asleep."

In the moonlight, you think you recognize the girl as Savannah, a girl in your class at school.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:02 No. 448523 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610853011.png - (107.62KB , 720x1594 , 39.png )

This night is so strange. You decide to just roll with it and see what happens. You begin climbing as quietly as possible, but when you get closer, Savannah squints down into the darkness. "Wait, you're... Evan? What are you doing?" she asks, her voice cracking with anxiety. "Wait wait let me get dressed."

She disappears inside and closes the window, leaving you hanging awkwardly on the wall. A moment later, she returns, wearing a big t-shirt, and pulls the window open again.

You climb up higher so you can see through the window. You see several candles arranged around the sides of her bed, and she fidgets nervously. "Evan, you...you're all wet. What are you doing out here?"

Frankly, you're not quite sure how to answer that one.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:02 No. 448524 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610854959.png - (107.03KB , 720x1156 , 40.png )

You sigh and lean up against her windowsill. "Wacky shit. Does the person you're waiting for have black eyes and pale skin and big, pointy ears?"

Savannah's eyes open wide and she nods. "And...and big sharp horns! Did he send you?"

Horns, that's a new one. You remember having those yourself, once. You climb up through the window. "No, he didn't. I expect we're dealing with the same kind of thing."

"You mean, you know a different demon?" She asks excitedly.

"Wait, demon?" you ask.

Savannah hands you a towel. "Yeah! He said I was a witch and that's how I summoned him! I guess you're a...warlock?"

"I...I don't think so. Elle, I'm inviting you in," you say.

You hear a thump outside the room, but nothing else happens. Savannah's eyes widen in panic. "Wh...why would you...WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? You can't do that! No one else is invited in!" She looks around nervously.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:02 No. 448525 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610856945.png - (57.48KB , 720x700 , 41.png )

You shake your head. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea. But I don't think Elle is a demon, she's been uh..." you think back at all the things she's done, and hesitate. "...nice to me. At least, we played a game together, and she did save me. But then, I guess that was part of the game, too..." You look away. "At any rate, I'm sorry."

Savannah backs up and leans against the wall. "I think it's okay," she responds. "I don't think it worked, anyway. This isn't your home."

"Right," you say, remembering how Elle wanted an invitation into your fort, and whatever was at your trailer set it on fire when you didn't invite it in. "I guess they need to be invited to come inside a place? I kind of thought it was significant, but didn't really think about it until now."

"Well, someone has to consider it their home," Savannah replies. "If you feel at home in a place, they can't come through its borders without an invitation. I think public stuff is fair game, though." She looks pensive for a second, and you feel a little awkward. "I'm sorry, this is really weird. I kind of feel like I should tell you, Orion was asking me stuff about school, and if I thought there were any other kids in my class who were magic, like me. He was really intent on it, like he wanted to know if I'd noticed anyone disappearing or anything. Do you...think he was talking about you?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:03 No. 448526 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610858588.png - (119.42KB , 720x1574 , 42.png )

You back up a little nervously. "I think he might have been. When did this happen?" You ask.

"About a month ago," she answers. "So, can you disappear?"

You shrug. "I guess so? I keep winding up in other places, like right before I got here. I don't know how or why it happens though, but I guess it usually happens when I'm around, uh, demons." You think for a minute. "Listen, I just wanted you to know, they're not all nice. I think I wound up in the place that they come from, and one of them burned down my house."

She looks a little shocked. "O...oh," she stutters.

You decide to press forward with all the information that you have. "But, I think Elle was surprised that an iron skillet I was holding wasn't hurting me. Maybe iron hurts them? Do you have anything made of iron?"

Savannah looks thoughtful for a second. "What, just metal? I dunno, I'll look around. I don't want to wake my parents up. Not supposed to have boys in my room," Savannah replies, and chuckles a little. She stops by the door and looks down at her feet. "What's this?" she mutters, and picks up some kind of metal cylinder from the ground, after rolling it out from its position partway under the doorframe. "Will this work?"

"That...that's my flute!" you answer.

"You must have dropped it," she says, and wanders over to another pile of things on the other side of the room, handing it to you as she passes. She picks up a watch from a pile of clothes by the bed, as your mind tries to wrap itself around how this thing got here.

"Oh, look at that," she says, holding the watch up to a candle. "12:02. But, my watch was always a little fast."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:03 No. 448527 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610860178.png - (212.88KB , 720x2279 , 43.png )

You try to reassure yourself with the weight of the flute in your hand. "Does Orion look like me, if he didn't have horns?" you ask.

"Oh, no," Savannah responds. "He's very different. Much taller."

"I think I should go," you say, and turn back towards the window.

"Wait," she says. You turn back to look at her, and she's looking absentmindedly at an empty corner of the ceiling, her eyes unfocused. She smiles lazily. "He's here already. Of course you can come in, love."

The window slams shut.

"He's just a friend from class," she says. "Oh! he can disappear, like you said!"

You back slowly away from the girl and try to pry the window up, but it won't budge.

Savannah suddenly looks pained. "No, no, where are you going! I did everything you said, with the blood and everything! Nobody even knows it was me!" She suddenly looks down at you, her eyes still blank and lifeless. "Yes, yes of course I will, love.

She lifts her big t-shirt up off her head, tosses it on the floor, and lunges at you, pressing her lips to yours.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:03 No. 448528 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610862752.png - (328.81KB , 720x3178 , 44.png )

You react as swiftly as you can, trying to extricate yourself from the girl's grasp. Your hand is stayed by your own hesitation, whether due to concern for her well-being or by that background voice that grows in the back of all adolescent boys' minds. Nonetheless, you manage to pull her away long enough to bash the window in with your flute.

Unfortunately, the strike leaves you off-balance, and Savannah makes short work of exploiting this, shoving you to the ground and straddling your waist. "Stay here, Evan," she coos, "Just a little while. Please." As she speaks, she pushes the window open just a crack and shoves the baseball bat wedged in the windowsill to which the rope ladder is attached. it sails through the gap and you hear a dull thud on the ground outside.

Roaring with frustration, you try to push her away, when you remember your flute. You put it to your lips and blow a couple of notes futilely, one hand preoccupied by keeping Savannah at bay. Your fumbling finds the finger holes, and you start to play a short melody.

Savannah stops fighting with the button on your wet shorts for a moment. You take the opportunity to use both hands on the flute and try as best you can to get lost in the music, like the first time.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:04 No. 448529 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610864192.png - (233.14KB , 720x2372 , 45.png )

A fast-paced, frantic song wells up in you from nowhere, and you close your eyes. You can feel something else in the room with you. Not living things, but lines. On the window, around the door, under the bed, and a particularly strong one encircling the bed, on which the candles are placed.

You close your eyes and push yourself down towards it.

The weight atop you shifts.

"Took you long enough to get here," says Elle's voice above you.

When you open your eyes, you find yourself inside your fort, huge and cavernous as it was last time. Straddling you now is not Savannah, but Elle, her pale, bare skin illuminated by the two flickering flames in the center of the room.

"Elle? What are you doing here?" you ask.

She giggles. "You said, 'Just this once, and only if you don't take anything else.' This isn't that once anymore, so I took your flute. It's all in the interpretation."

You smile and collapse back into the soft grass, as Elle wiggles herself on your lap expectantly. "Thanks, Elle. You're beautiful."

She grins widely. "Hmm, you're definitely learning. But I'm disappointed."

"Why?" you ask.

She unsnaps the button on your shorts, still grinning. "Do I have to do everything myself? I told you to get out of those clothes."

End Chapter 3.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:04 No. 448530 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610867093.png - (108.62KB , 720x953 , 46.png )

The Fair Folk, Chapter 4

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:05 No. 448531 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610870679.png - (181.06KB , 720x2777 , 47.png )

You are Evan Tolston, 12-year-old boy in the midst of the strangest night of your life. You are awakened by the slap of a small coarse cloth doll, filled with something that sounds like pebbles.
"Hey, you!" says a familiar voice from the air above your head. You open your eyes to see a tiny woman hovering above you. "You got away from the prince! Hey, move your head."
You try to speak but your throat is too dry. You swallow and sit up, trying to take stock of your situation. You feel very lightheaded and weak, hungry, thirsty, and sore, but feeling strangely satisfied. You have no recollection of why.
Earlier tonight, you were at your grandfather's house, and you remember climbing a tree and winding up in a strange land with the same tiny woman flying above you right now. You met someone who looks like you, and fled from him, somehow winding up back at your parent's trailer, miles away from where you started. Some kind of strange creature impersonated your grandfather on the phone, burned the trailer down, and...
You don't remember. You remember being chased, but don't know how you escaped. Something fuzzy happened, and you wound up at a classmate's house, where she said she was consorting with demons. You played the flute and grew horns, and then you...
You don't remember what happened next, either. You went between the borders in her house into your fort, where you are now, but everything is fuzzy after that, too.
Meanwhile, the tiny woman flies down to where your head was resting, and pops back up holding something small and white.
It's a tooth.
She grins. "I'm flattered! If you wanted to see me again, all you had to do was come back to my tree. What a sweet gift!" She pries open one of the stitches in her doll's mouth and pushes the tooth inside.
A soreness in your mouth springs suddenly to the forefront of your awareness, and you note the gap in your teeth with surprise. You also note with some concern that your neck hurts too, and your fingers come away red when you rub the offending area.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:05 No. 448532 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610872118.png - (72.24KB , 720x587 , 48.png )

You feel vaguely like you shouldn't be alone right now, but you're not sure why. You think there was someone else here, someone whose name escapes you, and whose face is absent from your mind. Nonetheless, there is no one inside the fort besides you and the tiny woman.
How did your fort get like this? It's huge, and there are burning pillars in the center. Somehow it still feels like home, though.
You rub your sore neck gingerly and inspect the area. You are currently naked, but your clothes are strewn haphazardly on the ground near you. They appear to be wet. You also see your flute beside you. And, there is the tiny woman again, who is looking at you expectantly.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:05 No. 448533 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610873870.png - (83.80KB , 720x815 , 49.png )

You grimace and sit up further, but somehow still feel like you should mind your manners. "Nice to see you again. Maybe this time we can tell each other our names," you say.
She blushes. "Maia, of the gray court. And you've already met Mr. Buttons!"
You nod. "Evan. Of, uh, nowhere really." Maia looks confused. "Listen, do you know who else was in here, or why I'm bleeding?"
You remove your hand from your neck and Maia blushes even further. "If you're saying I did that, I would never be so presumptuous! Besides, I just got here."
You nod. "Okay. If I may ask, how did you get in without an invitation?"
"Wait, you didn't...why were you sleeping on a tooth?" she starts to pout. "You didn't want me in here at all?"
"No, no, you're fine," you reassure her, "I'm just confused."
She opens her mouth to speak, but a choked sound comes out instead. She seems surprised by it, and tries again, with the same result. "I can't explain the oaths to you for some reason?" she asks, seeming genuinely baffled. Her eyes suddenly widen with realization. "Wait. Where...where do you come from?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:05 No. 448534 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610875596.png - (77.96KB , 720x850 , 50.png )

You slowly start to piece it together. "So you can be invited in by somebody sleeping on a tooth. I understand now," you say. A look of horror starts to grow on Maia's face. "I'm human, I think. Or maybe half-human? What would you call the other half, if I was?"
Maia just shakes her head. "If you already know this much, someone has done something terribly wrong. And, you made this place. Too far, too far..."
"Maia, I think someone out there is out to get me. I need more information about how stuff works around here," you respond, urgently.
Maia won't stop shaking her head. "I...I have to go. I'm sorry. Thank you for the tooth."
She darts away, disappearing into the darkness beyond the wooden door to your fort.
You stare after her for a few moments, before the overwhelming blackness through the door starts to get to you. It's like there's nothing out there.
Not that it matters, you realize. You think you learned enough from the incident with Savannah to be able to go anywhere you please instantly, at least if you play your flute first. The weight of that realization starts to sink in.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:06 No. 448535 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610877224.png - (290.61KB , 720x3000 , 51.png )

You pull your clothes on, your feet squelching into your wet sneakers. You collect your flute and find the deck of cards in your pocket, totally soaked. You also find the flashlight and its batteries. It remains off, even when you replace them.
Sifting through the strange gaps in your memory, you recall something having to do with your drawings. You try to hide them from your parents because they are a bit too "adult" for you to be making, but you remember having to transport some of them back to your fort from the trailer, for some reason.
Sifting through the box, you find everything in order. Your drawings, that magazine you found, your collection of cool rocks, and your knife, which you pocket. And then, you find something else. Another drawing, extremely well-rendered, of you and another girl. She's got black eyes, like Maia and the other girls that your double was with, plus some pointy ears and pigtails. You feel your face flush as you see the two figures in the image entwined with one another, her legs wrapped around you. The girl's face seems familiar, but you can't recall ever seeing it in real life. You suspect she was the one you've forgotten, somehow.
All your affairs in order, you step up to the doorway and decide that it leads out into the backyard of your parents' trailer. You want to collect the iron skillet that you...
...you don't remember. You know it's there, somehow. You also remember that your cat, Rodrick, ran off into the woods.
You step through the doorway. Trees materialize into view. You see the faintest hint of the dun's glow below the horizon. The lights in the sky from the solar flare are still present.
Your heart sinks as you see something red and glistening pinned to the trunk of a nearby tree.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:06 No. 448536 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610879159.png - (266.96KB , 720x1634 , 52.png )

It's a cat. Oh god, it's definitely a skinned cat. Your body goes numb in shock and you hear a rushing sound in your ears. You take a couple of stumbling steps backwards and feel tears welling up in your eyes.
Something in the distance starts to move, but you don't think that's why you started running. You are deafened by your own heartbeat as you step over a shadow in the dimming moonlight and the world dissolves.
You stop, breathing heavily. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you make out the kitchen of your grandfather's ranch, where you left hours ago.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:06 No. 448537 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610880674.png - (166.70KB , 720x2167 , 53.png )

You feel your way over to the cabinet where you think skillets are, open it, and feel your way around for one. You try to be careful, but you can't help but make some noise.
Suddenly, a cold, white light clicks on around you.
You spin around, and are momentarily blinded by the flashlight in your face.
You make out the angular silhouette of your father.
He doesn't say anything.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:07 No. 448538 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610882095.png - (129.18KB , 720x1727 , 54.png )

You stand up and put your hand in your pocket, turning a little so it's less visible. "Hey, dad," you say. "Man, am I glad to see you!"
Your faux cheerfulness is cut by the silence between you both. After a moment, he responds, "Explain," softly.
Your brain works feverishly at a response, and your already-accelerated heart beats harder than before. You hear your mouth saying words but you don't know what they are. "kidnappers," you manage to squeak out.
He lowers the flashlight and starts to walk towards you.
"I uh I lost a tooth!" you exclaim, backing around the kitchen table. "This isn't the bathroom!" you continue, barely even cognizant of the difference between thinking and speaking anymore.
He keeps advancing.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:07 No. 448539 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610883970.png - (337.61KB , 720x4260 , 55.png )

He continues to advance. You try to clear your head. An exit, a border, you need something, but you're too frightened to think straight.
"Take off your shirt," your father says quietly.
"N...No!" you yell back. With surprising swiftness, he lunges, dropping the flashlight, and grabs your hair, pushing you up over the countertop.
"Take off. YOUR FUCKING SHIRT," he screams. You pull your hand out of your pocket while flailing, and his eyes instantly dart down to the folded knife in your pocket.
He levels the shotgun against your head and lets go of your hair.
"Don't even make me," he says.
"Michael!" calls your mother's voice from the doorway. He doesn't turn. "Evan, we're.. we're glad you're home, aren't we Michael?"
Your father spits on your shirt. "Fuck off back to bed, honey," he replies softly.
You feel a flash of anger well up in you. "Drop the gun," you hear your mom say, choking a little on the words.
"Drop," you repeat after her.
Your father looks at you strangely.
He tips over backwards.
He hits his head on the edge of the table as he drops and you instantly dive under it as soon as you are free. You don't care where you go, you just want to be somewhere else.
The kitchen disappears, but nothing else takes its place.
"Hello, friend," says a female voice over your shoulder. "I invite you to follow me."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:07 No. 448541 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610885418.png - (255.65KB , 720x2782 , 56.png )

You recognize the girl as the one from the picture, but she seems a little strange and distant. Chalking it up to an eccentricity of the void you currently find yourself in, you nod your head. "Okay, but you've got some explaining to do," you say.
You think you see her grin in the darkness. Feeling uneasy, you flick out the blade of your knife and follow her as she disappears into the black.
The world shifts. Your shoes hit stone ground, and the face of the girl you were following changes. You see another one like her suspended against a wall in front of you, flanked by two tall, horned men. Lounging above it all on an elaborate and tall chair is your look-alike, smiling idly and absentmindedly shaking his foot to an inaudible beat.
"Ah, good," he muses, his expression not reacting to your presence. "I was afraid we'd have to look for you all day." He glances down towards the suspended girl. "Funny how fast we catch the beast when we use the right bait, hmm?" He drums his fingers against his armrest and looks back at you. "Tell me, boy, what is she to you, anyway?"
You feel compelled to tell the truth, but you still don't know anything.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:07 No. 448542 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610887539.png - (113.82KB , 720x1553 , 57.png )

You compose yourself as best you are able, and point to the imprisoned girl. "What, her? I have no idea who she is."
The prince's brow furrows, and he leans forward in his chair. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. Who is she? What has she been teaching you?"
"I honestly have no idea who that girl is," you respond. "Are you sure you have the right guy?"
"Do I have the right guy?" he snarls. His face contorts. "DO I HAVE THE RIGHT GUY? LOOK AT ME, BOY. LOOK AT MY FACE." He inhales audibly, and the girls beside him coo and stroke his arm. "Look at me and tell me if you think I have the wrong guy."
"I don't know who you want or what you want them for," you respond, still feeling strangely like lying would be impossible. "We do look and sound alike, though. So, who are you?"
The prince narrows his eyes. "I am Evan Tolston," he replies. "Prince of the Black court. Born to humans, and raised from nothingness to know no human frailty, love, compassion, or other weaknesses. No oaths to bind me, all the power in the world." he grins. "I am capable of so much more than this, though," he says, gesturing around himself. "It was foolishness to dream that I would be incapable of taking both stations at the same time. Foolishness I intend to correct."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:08 No. 448543 ID: 4b44fc
File 134610889258.png - (158.97KB , 720x2401 , 58.png )

You cross your arms defiantly. "So you're Evan Tolston? I thought I was Evan Tolston."
"Names don't have any meaning for a parasite like you," he responds nonchalantly. "You don't have a name. My father gave it to me and he's no doubt coddled you with the rest of what he has to offer in these twelve years."
You can't help but feel you got the raw end of the deal with that one. "So you, what, want to live with my family? By all means, have at it. What are these oaths, anyway?" You ask, hoping to clear up some of the veil of confusion that has covered these whole proceedings.
His eyes widen. "You are a fool," he replies, "That was an invitation if I ever heard one. And you truly know nothing. You are a waste. You are a waste and I am done dealing with you." He nods to the girl beside you, who pushes you roughly in the shoulder.
The room disappears, and you drop roughly onto a smooth, metallic surface. Strange towers and other shapes rise out of a strange, omnipresent black fog, pierced intermittently by something warm and bright white in the ground.
A moment later, the pigtailed girl drops beside you. You hear her making a lot of noise through her gag, and she starts to convulse.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:08 No. 448544 ID: 4b44fc
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You don't know who this girl is, but you feel sorry for her. You run up to her and try to pick her up off the metal as you look in vain for a border to cross. The girl unties the gag. Her voice echoes out over the strange metal surroundings.
Laughter.
Before you can stop her, she leaps up and pulls you close to her, pressing her lips to yours. You pull back at first, still a little panicked at her situation, but it suddenly somehow seems all right.
A long moment passes before she breaks the kiss and looks at you excitedly. "Oh," you say, "Hey Elle."
She giggles. "I almost can't believe that worked," she says.
With that hole in your memory filled, you're now more confused than ever. "Are you okay? I thought this would hurt you."
Elle smiles. "You lived your whole life in a world saturated with iron," she answers. "It doesn't hurt you. That's huge! It's part of who you are. How you bend the rules." You look at her with even more confusion. "I borrowed it," she continues, looking at your neck. "You'll heal up."
The pieces start to fall into place in your head. "But, why?" you ask.
She smiles and gestures all around. "For this. Evan, welcome to the iron fields. We are inside the moon. The entire Black Court was built to contain this." She grins again. "I think it's time you built your own court to set it free again."

End Chapter 4

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:09 No. 448545 ID: 4b44fc
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The Fair Folk, Chapter 5

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:09 No. 448546 ID: 4b44fc
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You are Evan Tolston, and this has been the strangest night of your life. Your stomach grumbles and churns on itself and you lick your parched lips. You haven't eaten anything since dinner, and it was almost dawn the last time you were in a place where you could see the sky. Your strange, black-eyed lover turns and surveys the surroundings. "Elle," you ask, "how long is this going to take?"
She turns to you with her typical strange grin, the innumerable lights in the floor reflecting perfectly in her black marble eyes. "Who knows," she replies. "The last time someone built a court, no one could measure time yet."
"Can we just... stop? Just for a little while? I'm hungry and thirsty and tired. Tired of being awake, tired of running around getting chased by monsters and...and saving your life! You're welcome, by the way!" despite yourself, you feel hot liquid welling up in the corners of your eyes. "And...and my cat died and my house burned down, and my father put a shotgun in my face, and my mind got all messed with, and I lost a tooth-"
Elles expression drops. "I thought those grew back."
"I'm 12!" you shout back. "I'm done losing the teeth that grow back!"
"Oops," she responds, monotonously.
"And you sucked my blood! What are you, a vampire? A fairy? A...a demon? Was Savannah right about you people?"
Elle sighs and takes a moment of silence before responding. "I guess this has been hard for someone like you. Why don't you take a walk? We need to find a border to cross. The only way I know how to twist it is to use shadows, but there's all these lights. You don't have any limitations. Be creative. Find us a border, and then we can go get you some food and water and a place to rest your head, okay?"
She puts her hand on your cheek and kisses you.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:09 No. 448547 ID: 4b44fc
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You turn away from Elle and start walking. Remembering how you had an innate sense for where borders are when you last played your flute, you take it out again. You listen to the strange innate thrumming sound of this place as you put the flute to your lips.
A slow, mournful song pours out of you, keeping time with the sounds in the pervasive black mist. The notes play out your frustration at Elle for not telling you anything, for not understanding you. You don't really know anything about this "making a new court" business, and frankly you don't know why it needs to concern you. You want to just stop, but then what? Go back home? Roam the earth? You somehow know these concerns are expressed in your song.
You feel a change come over you and open your eyes, noting that Elle did not follow.
Your border-sense seems to flicker across the iron landscape. Thin, wispy lines arc across adjacent lights before evaporating into nothing. You think you sense more of them off in the distance, but a thought occurs to you.
You don't need a border at all. You can make your own.
You strip your shirt off and lay it on the ground between two lights. You can tell the line is strong enough to work, that you can leap across it and go anywhere else you please. A tiny voice in the back of your head adds that you can do so with or without Elle.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:10 No. 448548 ID: 4b44fc
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You can't leave Elle behind, you think. Where would you be then? You've got nothing left. You turn back towards where you came from. "Elle!" you call out loudly. Your voice echoes off into the distance and you suddenly feel very self-conscious, all alone out here in the black mist. It feels like the omnipresent thrumming sounds grow louder beneath your feet.
You are relieved as Elle comes into view and immediately comes to your side. She looks down at your shirt on the ground. "That was fast," she says.
"Here, a border," you say.
She looks incredulous. "What, the shirt? But, you just put that there."
"Well, yeah. And now it's a border," you reply, matter-of-factly.
"Between what?" Elle asks.
You shrug. "This side of the shirt and that side of the shirt?" you explain, pointing to each side of the line.
She grins. "Haha! I could never have thought of that. C'mon, it's about time I weaned you off of that human slop," she says excitedly. She leans into your back. As you step across the line, your shoes hit soft grass.
Overhead, a dense treetop canopy filters streaks of blue-grey moonlight from above, though you can't see any tree trunks supporting it. Hanging amongst the branches, you see strings of colorful cloth and some small flecks of glowing green. In the dappled shadows before you sits a stone bowl atop a pedestal, which Elle approaches. You watch as she pricks her finger in a small stone spike at the side of the bowl. A drop of blood runs down the side, and your eyes can't really seem to register what happens as she reaches into the bowl and pulls out the droplet, except it is now a bright purple spherical fruit.
"Here, eat this," she says, offering it to you.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:10 No. 448549 ID: 4b44fc
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Something makes you uneasy about this. "I...don't know. Is that how you normally get food?"
"Of course not," Elle replies. "But, the ways you normally get food around here often leads to getting to know people. Plus, if you're not careful, you might get some other effects."
"Like what," you reply, "turning green and growing leaves?"
"I promise this fruit won't make you turn green and grow leaves," she says. "Come on, I took some of your blood. It's only fair you take some of mine."
"I think I'd rather have some human food," you reply.
Elle sighs and bites into the fruit. "I didn't realize it meant that much to you," she says after she swallows the bite. "Fine, what do you want to eat instead?"
"I just want tome answers," you reply. "What are we even doing?"
Elle grins. "I can't tell you. It's not my fault the world is designed to make it hard for people like you to get answers. Where do you want to eat?" she asks, then finishes off the rest of the fruit.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:10 No. 448550 ID: 4b44fc
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"I guess we could just pick a house and raid their fridge," you say, after pondering a moment.
"And how would you get inside?" Elle asks.
Your eyes widen. "What, I don't need an invitation!" you say. "You can wait outside!"
"How many times have you gone inside someone's home without being invited first?" Elle asks.
Your heart races as you consider the implication. "So...I've gone in people's houses loads of times without them saying I'm invited in!"
"Did they open the door for you, or nod you inside, or any of the other things that count as an implicit invitation in your weird customs? Were you invited in before?" she continues.
You honestly can't think of any examples. "But...but you went in my fort before I got there!" you exclaim, remembering how she was inside when you arrived the first time. "Then you needed an invitation later!"
"Was it your home?" she asks.
"What does that mean?" you ask, "and why do you keep asking me questions?"
"Your home is a place you know intimately and feel like it's yours. An unusual attachment. People in human culture are particularly jealous about theirs. It allows them to have more than one. If they're not attached enough to one, it's only their home when they're there. Was it your home before you arrived?"
You mull it over. "No," you reply. "I guess not."
"And I am giving you questions," Elle continues, "Because I can't give you answers."
"So you're cheating," you reply.
"We all do. We all cheat. The ways we can cheat are what we are. Do you remember, Evan? When I told you what I am? I am the shadows in the moonlight. Whatever I can make that mean, it means. That's how I cheat. And you, you don't know the rules, but you have to follow them anyway. You cheat too. You cheat constantly. You're so good at it you probably don't even notice," she takes a step forward. "I mean, you put a shirt down on the ground and made it a border. Do you realize how unfathomable that is to me? That should not be possible. YOU should not be possible. The very idea of you terrifies everyone." Elle grins again. "Except for me. So I hope you'll start to trust me soon, because I'm all you've got."
"So I'm really not human," you say. Elle stares at you and doesn't respond. You take a deep breath as you try to take it all in. You've suspected this for most of the day, but it's still hard to swallow.
Your stomach interrupts your train of thought with a loud, embarrassing gurgle. "Uh, a store. A store in town. That won't be a home. But, I don't have any money."
"Then we cheat some more," Elle answers. "Lead the way."
The two of you step over a patch of moonlight. The smell of smoke fills your nostrils. Overhead, the shimmering blue streaks waltz slowly across the sky. The sun is just beginning to rise over the city, which, you notice suddenly, is completely dark, save for a fire clearly visible a few blocks away. You don't hear any sirens. In fact, you don't hear much of anything besides the dull impact of your shoes on asphalt.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:11 No. 448551 ID: 4b44fc
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You walk up to the front of a nearby convenience store and notice that a window is already broken in. Thinking it a bit portentous, you nonetheless clear the bottom of any stray shards of glass and begin to clamber in.
About that time a pile of rags in a hat stirs from its position propped up against the front wall of the shop.
"World's ending, boy," he says. You realize it is a homeless man whose grimy hat and jacket are so filthy they perfectly match the outside of the convenience store in the dim light. "You should get on out."
"Go on inside, Evan," says an unfamiliar female voice from behind you. You turn and see that Elle has been replaced by a tall woman wearing a red dress and black sunglasses, with the same weird grin. "I'll wait for you out here."
"You're one of them, aren't you boy?" the man asks. "You come to take me back?"
Something about the way he says that gives you chills. "We could go to another store..." you say.
"This one has everything we need. Go inside, Evan. Get some food," the woman repeats, forcefully. You feel oddly compelled to do what she says and only think about what sort of snacks you're going to loot.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:11 No. 448552 ID: 4b44fc
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You keep on edge as you move through the aisles collecting things. At first, you grab only boxes of candy. Eventually, you realize that maybe there is something to that stuff adults were always saying about candy making you sick, so you grab some pieces of fruit, packs of peanuts, some chips, and some beef jerky, and shove all your loot in a bag from behind the counter. To top it off, you also get a few bottles of soda and water, and head back out the window.
"Got everything you need?" Elle asks, standing next to the hobo.
"I think so," you reply.
"Good. One more thing before we go. Do you still have your knife on you?"
"Uh, yeah, why?" you ask.
"Good. Listen. I want you to kill this man," she says, calmly.
"What?" you exclaim. "No!"
"Please," says the man, "They won't take me back. I don't want this anymore."
"You made him say that!" you say to Elle accusingly.
"That doesn't make sense," she responds.
"Why not?" you counter.
She frowns. "More questions. Kiss me," she says.
Your brain seems to go on autopilot as you step forward and do as she says without even consciously considering it.
She steps back and grins again. "Now, kill yourself."
"What?" you ask, horrified.
"And you didn't do it," Elle elaborates. "Does that answer your question?"

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:11 No. 448553 ID: 4b44fc
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You think harder about what Elle is saying. "So, when I told my father to drop, he wanted to?"
"Would you say your father likes himself?" Elle asks.
"Yes!" you answer emphatically, without thinking.
"Hm," is all she intones in reply.
"And Savannah..." you continue, "she wanted to...to throw herself at me?"
Elle grins again, a little wickedly. "Is she prettier than me?"
"Don' answer that one, son," says the old man in a low grumble. "Won't be nice for the other woman."
"Why do I have to kill you," you ask, your head still reeling. You set your bags down on the sidewalk and lean forward to get a better look at the man.
"I'm gonna die today," he replies. "Y'can't change that. Lady says might as well be you to do it."
"I thought I'd give you an easy one for your first," Elle elaborates. "I hear it's the hardest."
"But-" you protest, not really sure what to append to the interjection. "Why do I have to kill anyone? And why are you going to die today?"
"It's this or burn in the fire," the man says. "I seen, nothin to stop it. We got soft relying on our machines. No water here to pump on it. Too old and tired to start walking. Walked too long across this world. It doesn't compare. It can't."
"Plus, we could use the blood," Elle pipes in.
You sigh as you alternate between mulling it over and not believing you're actually mulling it over. "Can I just give you the knife, and..." you trail off.
The old man looks up. You see a twinkle in the pools of inky blackness concealed under his visor. "You could," he says. "Lady says might as well be you to do it, is all."

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:11 No. 448554 ID: 4b44fc
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He's going to die anyway, you think. You can't hesitate later if you have to kill. The city is being burned, and there's chaos everywhere. It doesn't matter.
You feel the knife click open in your hands.
"Show me your back," you say. Almost as if in slow motion, you see the man push himself up and scoot in a semicircle to give you better access. You step up behind him, knife ready at the base of his skull.
You stop. There's no going back after this. You'll be a killer. For what? To be a better killer? Do you really want to do this?
"Kill him," says Elle.
"Wait-" says the man.
It's too late. You've already begun the motion. All his protest made you do is panic. Adrenaline floods your body. The world slows to a crawl. You feel the slight resistance of the blade of the knife scraping between his vertebrae, and you're too slow to stop it. One brief spray of warm blood, then nothing.

ChildOfAB 2012/08/27(Mon)16:12 No. 448555 ID: 4b44fc
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You hear a dull roaring in your ears and you go a little numb. Everything that happens next is a blur. Elle swoops in and does something with the body. You vaguely recall being whisked off to...somewhere else. Elle bustles around you and ushers you across several borders. At one point you have a faint memory of her telling you to eat and drink something, but you don't remember tasting it.
You fall flat on your back in some grass and fall asleep.
You don't dream.
You wake to what seems like Elle's canopy place. You are laying on your back, nude, and Elle positions her familiar weight atop you.
You looks down at Elle and she smiles. Not a strange grin, but something that feels more genuine, if only a fraction. "You're finally awake, good," she says, wiggling her hips against you. "I knew you'd come around."
As you look around, you realize this is someplace new. No moonlight shines through the canopy, but there are the familiar lights of the iron fields scattered across the ground. To the side, you see your fort's two flaming pillars, and something that looks like a throne. "Where are we?" You ask.
"The beginning of the red court," Elle responds. As she takes you in her hand and positions herself over you, you realize you must have gotten hard in your sleep.
"How did you do this?" you ask. "It's like-" your inquiry is cut short as Elle drops herself down onto you.
"Shh-" she exhales, swaying her hips lithely. "We'll talk later."
End chapter 5