Beguiled

I lay in bed for almost an hour.  Possibly longer.  No matter what I did, I could not fall asleep.  My wife lay peaceful at my side.  I envied her.  She fell asleep almost as soon as we laid down.  I t had been a long day of gardening and yard work.  Yet, I still felt agitated.  Anxious.  Not really sure exactly what it was I felt.  I just knew I was awake.  I decided to go downstairs before I woke my wife.  

Downstairs I made some coffee and decided to drink it on the front porch.  We live off the beaten path.  Not BFE or anything but far enough away the sounds of the highway feel more like a dream than a reality.  Our place is surrounded by trees.  Just a quick walk away is a river.  It’s not a bad place to live.  Not at all. I sat on the porch a lot.  Enjoying the sounds and sights of nature.  Tonight, the fog was thicker than usual for this time of year.  Just to make sure no animals made the porch there home, I shone my flashlight around.  The beam would not penetrate the fog.  

I grabbed my coffee and sat down in one of the comfy chairs we keep out here.  It was peaceful.  I must have been out there only a few minutes when I began to hear noises.  These weren’t the normal noises of nature and the dark.  It sounded like children’s laughter.  At first, I didn’t think much of it.  Just wrote it off as being tired and unable to sleep.  But then it got closer.  Seemed to be coming from the parked car.  At this point I was sure the neighbor children were having fun with me. 

At first, I ignored them.  Figured when they didn’t get a rise out of me they would get bored and leave.  Within a short time, the laughter died away.  The night was once again peaceful.  I took a long sip of my coffee and swore I saw something out of the corner of my eye move in the fog.  I stopped and listened.  Nothing.  Not even a breeze.  As I stood to investigate I heard the laughter again. This time it sounded like teenagers.  At least 2 different ones.  I began walking off my porch.  As I stepped on the soft ground I said, in what I believed to be a relaxed voice.  “It’s late.  You won’t get a reaction out of me. Just go home.”

The laughter stopped.  Leaves and twigs crunched under feet.  The sound was not growing further, it was coming closer.  I stood my ground.  I would not be bullied by a group of kids.  

Out of the fog, I counted three bodies.  One looked like a teenage boy. Maybe 15.  The other two were younger.  The little girl was 11, maybe 12.  The other one could not have been more than 7 years old.  My god two of them were still babies.  I addressed the boy.  “How dare you keep these two out this late.  They should be in bed.”

The boy just gave an evil grin.  It finally occurred to me that I didn’t know any of them.  My wife and I knew all the children within 10 miles.  “Who are you?” I asked no one in particular.  Hoping one of the younger ones would blurt out an answer before the oldest could abject. 

The youngest was the first to speak, her voice was high pitched.  Gleeful.  Her pig tails bounced as she swayed back and forth.  “We are the people of the forest.”

“What?  What forest?”  They all turned in unison and looked at the trees behind them.  As they returned their gaze to me I felt cold.  “That’s not a forest.  Just some trees we call woods.”

“We know what you call them.”  The middle girl had brown hair.  It was wild as if she forgot to brush it.  Her eyes were brown, almost black.  Her voice was not as cheerful as the other.  Her voice was bland. Toneless, as if she hardly used it. 

“What are you doing here?  What do you want?”

The youngest girl came closer to me.  Slowly, until she was within reaching distance then she stopped.  “We came for you Peter.”
I could feel the blood rush from my face.  I felt numb all over.  “How do you know my name?”

“We know a lot about you.  And your wife, Sally.”

Now I got mad.  I felt my courage return to me.  I took an aggressive step towards the girl.  As I did this she waved her hand behind her.  I did not realize the teenager had taken a few steps my way after my move.

“Peter, I understand your hostility. We mean Sally no harm.  Tonight, we are here for you.”

“What do you mean, for me?  Are you threatening me?”

The little girl laughed, “No silly.  My name is Adda, and these are my friends.”  She pointed to the other girl, “Delu.”  As she waved to the teenage boys he smiled and gave a small bow. “Taras.”  

I had never heard such strange names before.  I believed it to be a joke.  I turned and began walking up my porch, “leave now or I will call the police.”  As I turned to face the children they were gone.  I felt as if they just left.  Relief washed over me.  Until I turned around and saw the one called Adda sitting on one of the porch chairs.  She just sat there looking at me.  I looked around for the other two.  I didn’t see them.  My first thought was my wife.  I opened the door.  But I couldn’t step inside. An invisible force was keeping out.  I never felt anything like it.  “She will be fine, Peter.  Come talk to me.”

That numbing fear returned.  “What are you?”

“We are Fae.” 

“Fairies?”

“For lack of a better word, yes.”

I closed the door as softly as I could.  I did not want to wake my wife.  “What do you want from me?”

“Peter.”

“Please don’t say my name like we have known each other for years.”

“Peter, we have come tonight because you are about to go on a journey.  Centuries ago.”  

“What Journey?” I interrupted her.  She was not happy.  She gave me the kind of look you would give a child who just disobeyed you.  “Come sit down.”  I did what she told me to do. 

“Now Peter, this will go smoother if you do not interrupt me and just have a little faith that what I am telling you is true.  The Fae cannot lie.”

“I have heard stories of Fairies tricking people. “

“Tricking and lying are two different things.  For more than a few centuries now we have had an agreement with humans.”  Before I could ask she rolled her eyes at me.

“You humans are very fragile things.  Weak bodies and even weaker minds.”

“Now I am not going to sit here as you insult my entire…”

“Peter.  It is not an insult, it is true.  Your bodies are only good for a limited number of decades.  And even then, sometimes your minds are only good for a few years.  Many generations ago my kind made a deal with your kind.  Because humans feared death, we agreed to take their spirits to another place after their bodies failed them.”

“Like a Grim Reaper?”

“If that is how you prefer to think of it.”

“You don’t look like a Reaper.”  She began to pout and pointed away from the house.  As I turned my head before me, just off the porch I saw a hooded figure with a scythe and skeletal hands floating in the air.  I screamed and stood.  Trying with no success to back away.  The figure turned into the teenage boy, Taras.  He was still smiling.

“At the time of the bargain this is how your kind described us to children and each other.  We took the form to make the journey easier on you.  It just seems played out in this day and age. Doesn’t it?”

“Why are you here?  I am not dead.  Sally? No, you can’t have her.” I stood ready to fight.  Preparing myself for whatever attack came.  Yet nothing happened.  The young girl Adda smiled at me.

“Peter, we are here for you. Your time has come. I can see it in your face.  Do not worry.  Sally will be sad for a while, but she will be okay.”

The shock almost dropped me.  I walked to the edge of the porch.  I didn’t believe her.  “You lie.”

“I told you, I can’t lie.”  I could feel her standing next to me. “Haven’t you wondered why you cannot feel the breeze on your face?  Why you were so restless you were unable to sleep?”  I looked down at her.  She was pointing back at the chair.  I fell to my knees with fright at what I saw.  It was me.  Sitting there.  An untouched cup of coffee on the table beside me.

“You killed me.”

“No silly.  Your body did.  We are here to help you.”

“How.”

‘You are going to come with us.’

“Where?”

“It’s always different for each person.”

She held out her hand and after a few moments I took it.  She helped me up and began walking into the woods.  Still gripping her hand, afraid that if I let go I would be lost, I followed her. 

“Peter?”

“Yes.”

“You were right about one thing though.”  We stopped just outside the tree line.  I looked around and noticed the other two had joined us.  

“Right? Right about what?”

“My kind do play tricks.”  My eyes went wide.  That feeling of fear returned.  My stomach felt heavy.

“You see, a lot of my kind’s magic works better with blood, death, and after.  Your kind made the bargain with us that we would not just kill humans straight out anymore.  Instead waiting until their natural course ended.  However, after humans believed our story of a better place we were free to do with your souls whatever we wanted.”  I tried to pull my hand free.  She was strong.  The other two grabbed me.  They forced me into the trees.  I heard their laughter.  Their evil giggles.  Then, nothing.