This story won the BCS Library Writing Contest of 2022
I follow Valeria down a steep, rocky trail to the coast. Cliffs hem us in on both sides where a tiny stretch of unused beach sits. However, during this gray, salt-winded morning, a beached ship lies in its midst. Rumors claim the cove is cursed by fairies.
I pause a distance from the wreckage. I grip my backpack straps. Fairies are not real.
A feeling of wrongness radiates in my chest. I clutch the crystal butterfly pendant my sister gave me before her disappearance. “This will keep you safe.”
I will find you, Olette. I promise.
The shine of the pendant’s matching bracelet looks bizarre on my wrist. This was Olette’s favorite bangle, and it had vanished with her. Until this morning. Valeria gave it to me claiming she had found some clues.
The ship’s shadow overtakes us as we walk. It’s a modern yacht, yet it looks like it’s been here for years. The vessel is beached so far inland that the waves don’t come close to touching it. In the sand, a perfect circle of iridescent shells surrounds its rusted body. A large hole in one side exposes the dark interior, easily accessible along a path of vegetation. The moss, plants, and flowers seem to have grown out from the gap. Like blood spilling from a wound on a dead body.
“You found her bracelet here?” Despite my attempt at nonchalance, my voice squeaks at the end.
Valeria pauses at the mouth of the opening and tilts her head at an unnatural angle, her movements bizarrely jerky. My sister’s best friend has been acting oddly this morning. I wonder if she is feeling okay.
“Yes, I found the bracelet inside. We’ll be able to find your sister now.” Her smile stiff and full of teeth as she disappears into the dark interior.
“Wait, don’t you need a light?” But she’s already gone.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Valeria is my sister’s best friend. I can trust her. Finding Olette is all that matters. I drop my pack, pulling out a large flashlight. I hesitate, looking at the small can of pepper spray. Do I need this? I shove the tiny canister into my back pocket. Donning my gear again, I hurry to follow her.
Inside, it’s abnormally dark. The moss, plants, and mushrooms that cover the interior transition to a dark teal shade. I can barely hear the waves as an overwhelming silence covers the area around me. I shiver, holding the flashlight in one hand and my sister’s crystal pendant in the other.
“Valeria? Where are you?” I creep forward, not certain what the greenery may be hiding.
“Back here, I found something.” She calls out deep within the belly of the ship.
I follow her voice, which leads me into a spacious room. Standing upright in the middle is a giant ornate mirror. Looking around with my flashlight, I see no trace of Valeria. Odd, I could have sworn that her voice was coming from this room. On closer inspection of the mirror, I notice it’s identical to the one in my sister’s room. I touch the metal surface and feel a zing as the reflection ripples then changes to a bright forest.
Startled by the bright light emanating from the glass, I step back. Is it a TV? But how is it powered? I check the back with the beam of my flashlight. Nothing – no wires, cords, nothing to show its anything but a regular mirror.
SLAM!
I turn my beam to see a hunched, black-eyed, shark-smiling Valeria standing where the entrance was. Behind her the moss swells, absorbing the exit until nothing but a wall of vegetation exists.
“Valeria?” I tremble. Releasing the hold I have on my butterfly pendant, I slowly reach for the pepper spray in my back pocket as my heart tries to beat its way out from my throat.
I watch in horror as Valeria’s body mutates into a sharper, angular shape. She twists in quick jerky movements as her limbs, hands, head, and ears grow in length.
Valeria’s usual alto rose to a high-pitched rasp. “Such a pain. Thought it would be easy to trick you to follow. Spend more time in the human world than we wanted. If it weren’t for the protections the witch left around your village, we would have had you sooner.”
“Stay back!” I shriek.
Valeria steps forward. I drop my flashlight, pull out my pepper spray, and hold it out like one would a cross at a demon. I use my other hand to pull my phone out of my back pocket. Fumbling, I press the emergency services button, the screen shifts to a crisis menu. Keeping one eye on her and one on my phone screen, I take one step back for every one she advances.
“You cost many of our kin to get that witch’s bracelet, but it was perfect bait.”
“I SAID STAY BACK!” I spray Valeria with the burning liquid. She doesn’t flinch. I look at my phone. No service, I mash the emergency call button. Come on! Come on!
Valeria cackles at such a high pitch it hurts my ears. “Stupid girl. We worked hard to create a hole in the protection area. No one can save you. Dumb greedy humans brought the door here. The door’s barrier will keep others from coming to save you.” She continues her horrible laugh as she slowly comes closer. My back hits a wall. There is nowhere left to go. Her face fills with glee at my panic.
“Why? What do you want from me? Did you take Olette!?” I scream in a mixture of anger and fear.
With a hiss of rage, Valeria is instantly in front of me. She knocks the items out of my fists with such force my hands sting from the impact. The empty can of pepper spray and my cell phone are launched into the room. But I only see Valeria, looming so close I feel her rancid metallic breath on my face.
“Never say that witch’s name in my presence!”
I adhere myself against the moss, my shoulders coil in, I clutch my pendant as I shudder.
Pleased by my reaction, Valeria calms. “She started this war, and we will finish it. If we didn’t need you alive, we would have eaten you like the crew. Your sister will not cross us now that we have you.”
She opens her mouth to continue but freezes and sniffs the air. There is enough dim light to see her beady eyes dilate.
“You smell good…” Valeria’s gaze focuses on my hands. I look down to find my right hand is bleeding. I don’t like the way she is staring at it. My breath picks up and I vibrate in terror.
“We can eat its limbs… It does not need them to live… It will still make a good hostage if we have a nibble…” She mumbles to herself.
Oh, no way, I’m not going to get eaten!
Dodging to the side I run as fast as my legs can carry me towards where I think the entrance is. I hit the wall with all the force I can muster but the barrier of greenery does not give.
“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!” Tears spill from my eyes as I hit the spongy barrier with my fists. There has to be a way out of here! Please open!
Valeria chortles behind me. Her feet drum rapidly across the mossy floor towards me. I curl in clutching my sister’s crystal butterfly pendant. I close my eyes and remember Olette. My older sis would have never cowered in a corner waiting to die. She would have faced death with defiance on her face.
I make my shaking body stand as I turn to fight. It feels like I am dragging my body through syrup as I scrabble to get my pack off. Screaming, I throw it at Valeria’s head. Following my bag, several balls of light appear like fireflies rising from grass. Valeria hits the knapsack with such force the contents spill everywhere. The cluster of lights speeds towards her like fireworks. They shoot through her, creating large glittering gaps where her body parts should have been. Falling to her knees, Valeria’s face twists in rage.
“A Fairy Queen… We should have known…It was too easy… Damn… Witch…” Valeria collapses into a pile of glitter before disappearing.
Fairy Queen? Was she referring to me?
Squinting, I try to see through the bright light on my chest.
Why is my chest glowing?!
Looking down I see that my sister’s pendant is no longer a crystal butterfly. It’s now a fairy with minuscule jewels that decorate her dress like stars, an ornate crystal crown sits slightly crooked atop her snow-white hair, and her butterfly wings glow like stained glass. She sits on my necklace like one would a swing, and makes a gesture with her tiny scepter.
Aw, she’s so cute –
I choke as she pulls my pendant strap towards the mirror with me attached. I try to stop, but the other lights, which I assume are fairies, buffet my back as they push me toward the “door”.
“What are you–!” The Fairy Queen throws glitter at the mirror. The Forest scene changes, I think, before I am thrown through it.
Falling, I crash onto something hard and carpeted. Groaning, I look up in time to see a large troop of knights armored in white iridescent metal surrounding me. They draw their crystal-metal swords and I freeze. None of us move as an awkward silence fills the cavernous gaudy room. I think they were expecting more from me than “playing dead.” I am vaguely aware that the light from my necklace is gone and has turned back into a crystal.
The sound of something large hitting the room’s door over my shoulder causes me to flinch. The knights call out, pressing their weapons closer.
“Stop, stop, I don’t understand!” I slowly show my hands.
A familiar feminine voice calls out in a musical language. All the knights sheathe their weapons and step back.
I know that voice.
“It can’t be-“ I fling myself at Olette. On impact we wrap our arms around each other. Tingles tighten my throat as tears escape from my eyes. I try to push down the emerging frustration, excitement, and terror.
“I missed you so much. Where am I? What’s going on? Why do you look like some fantasy novel heroine? Why did your best friend turn into a monster and try to eat me!?” Questions run through my head, but I don’t voice them. I just enjoy this moment.
After a little while, exhaustion sinks into my body. Olette’s interrogation can wait. I want to bring her back to Mom and Pop, so they can see that she is okay.
“When can we go home?” I wipe the tears from my damp face.
“We can’t, not until the war is over.” My sister brushes my hair back.
Surprised, I stare. “…What?”
She cringes. “I may have started a war…and now it’s too dangerous to use the portals.”
“…What?!”
“Hey look, it’s a fantasy world. You’ll love it here.” She opens a curtain revealing a window to a war-torn scene. I watch in horror as a dragon finishes eating a horse–with its rider still on it.
I glare at her.
She winces and closes the curtain.
“It’s not as bad as it looks.”
For the first time in my life, I don’t believe her.