The Damned Destiny.

A new friend

My eyes were still closed, and I know I was laying on the ground practically.

I almost didn’t want to open my eyes.

I felt a slight breeze. I opened my one good eye. I could see clearer then ever. I opened my other, disappointed it was warbled.

‘Will it be like this forever?’

‘I’m afraid so sweet heart, I’m sorry. I tried to heal it, but with the Wolfsbane…’

‘That’s what that was?’

‘Yes. I couldn’t heal it in time for it not to be permanent. But, the charred parts of your face will be scarred over by morning.’

‘Thank you for that, at least.’

‘Sorry I couldn’t take much of the pain away either.’

‘It’s okay. I shouldn’t have freaked out like I did. I should have stayed calm like you said.’

‘It’s just who you are. You’re a protector. A guardian. It’s who WE are. Trust me, I wanted to be the one to kill Beck. But Samantha beat us to it.’

‘True. I’m so proud of her.’

‘As am I. Now come on, let’s go see what we look like hm? Maybe you’ll feel a little better after that.’

I started running through the forest at break-neck speed, jumping over roots, and fallen trees as if they were nothing.

The full moon was high in the sky, it’s silvery rays casting light on a single puddle. I stared at my reflection in amazement.

My fur was silvery white with black tipped ears. I couldn’t see more then that, but I was in awe.

‘Beautiful.’ Was all I could say.

‘Yes we are,’ purred Leta.

‘Come now, we left the kids long enough. They all had their showers by now. It’s your turn.’

I followed my scent trail back to the bed and breakfast.

‘Wait how do I shift back?’

‘Just imagine yourself as a human.’

‘Right.’

That should be easy, right?

I closed my eyes and imagined it.

And I was in pain all over again. I stayed quiet, as all my bones break all over again and fused back together.

I was a panting mess.

‘Ugh this sucks.’

‘You’ll get used to it, and it’ll be faster once you do it enough.’

‘Good.’

I ran silently back to our opened window and hopped through.

I opened the door slightly.

The twins were asleep but Samantha was still awake.

“How did it go?” She whispered.

“It was amazing, aside from the pain.” I whispered back.

“I’m going to sleep, enjoy your shower.” She got underneath her covers, and was soon snoring.

I closed the door quietly and hopped into the shower. I turned on the water and stood underneath the warm water a while.

I used the little complimentary soap, cleaning myself throughly enough. It smelled of lavender. One of my favorite smells.

I rinsed myself, turned off the water, and wrapped myself in a big fluffy towel.

I got myself redressed and looked in the mirror once more. I decided it would be best to wrap my face for now, so the lady doesn’t question how it healed so quick.

The scars, were gnarly, but none the less healed. Large red bumps from the burner raised around my eye and cheek.

‘I’m sorry again,’ Leta murmured.

‘Please don’t be sorry, and hey, it adds character!’

I put one of the big bandaids on, and got some gauze on the other parts it didn’t cover.

I looked over the kids and they were still sleeping. The twins, smelled kind of different to me. Not a bad smell. Samantha didn’t smell like anything however, weirdly enough.

——

I crept out of our room and down to the desk we went up to when we first got there. The women was still sitting there, typing away at a computer.

“Excuse me, miss? Can you tell me if there’s any clothing shops nearby?”

She looks up at me from the computer and gives me a warm smile.

“There’s actually a thrift store down the street. Really nice place. I’ll give you directions.”

“Awesome, thank you.”

She writes it down on a little notepad, and hands it to me.

Before I could walk away, she stops me.

“Are you all alright? Do you need me to call someone?”

I shook my head.

“I can get help for you if you really need it, I’m not going to let you get in harms way.” She insisted.

“Thank you, but I’m okay. And so are they.” I sounded irritated, which wasn’t my intention But now I was worried. Is going to call someone?

She smiled at me warmly, and she did something I didn’t expect. Faerie wings sprouted from her back.

“You’re safe here. If you want to stay another night, it’s on the house.”

“Wait you could tell-“

“Oh sweetie, I’ve been running this business for 100 years. I’ve seen a thing or two.” She winked.

“Now go get some rest. I know you need it.”

I head back to our room, feeling much more at ease.

I close the door behind me quietly, locking it.

‘Come on kid, let’s get some sleep, so we can get some good food in the morning!” Leta yipped in my head.

——

I didn’t sleep for long. My internal alarm clock woke me once again at 4am. Samantha was still asleep beside me.

Finn was laying on top of my head. His little snores blowing my little baby hairs on my head.

I sat up quietly, trying not to wake Samantha.

I hadn’t noticed earlier the little complimentary coffee maker in the room. It was tiny. I filled up the little kettle with water from the bathroom sink and filled up the coffee maker. I placed the pre-measured out coffee in the top and set the kettle back and waited patiently for it to brew.

The smell of coffee smelled nice, but it almost reminded me of the farm. My last birthday, Beck had “accidentally” poured hot coffee on my right arm.

It burned so bad. My friends at school asked me what happened, but I lied and said I had spilled it. My arm still had the scarring from it. Red blotches going up my arm.

Once the coffee was finished, I poured myself a cup, put in some sugar and powdered creamer in it.

I switched on the tv and commercials were rolling about a new state of the art Phone.

Phone. I need to get those for the kids.

That’ll be another day.

‘Why are you awake so early’ Leta yawned in my head.

‘I’m always up this early.’

‘Ugh, you’re crazy.’

‘At least I’m not lazy.’

She huffed.

After I finished my coffee, I slipped out of our room silently. The second I did I smelled a mouth watering scent of food wafting through out the whole bed and breakfast.

I followed the scent to the kitchen.

The sweet old faerie was cooking bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausages, toast, and all different kinds of breakfast foods, all at the same time.

I was in awe at the floating spatulas, slipping finished food onto floating platters.

“Oh good morning! You’re an early riser, aren’t you?”

I nodded shyly.

“Do you need some help?” I asked.

“Oh no, I’m fine. Are you hungry now? I can hear your stomach grumbling.”

As if I’m cue my stomach made a loud noise, and Leta perked up at the mention of eating.

“Yeah, if that’s okay.”

“Of course!”

I sat down at the kitchen counter. A plate of French toast and sausage floated right to me, with a fork and knife following. The syrup bottle then came over and trickled down over my French toast. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Can all faeries do what you do?”

She nodded and sat across from me, her own plate floating down in front of her.

“With a little bit of practice, it won’t take very long for Samantha to learn as well. There are other faeries however that have very special abilities, that no other faeries can do.”

“So being able to smell other supernatural beings is faerie thing?”I asked.

“Yes, except wolves can’t scent out faeries. We’re technically sworn enemies, but we get along fine now. Especially since the humans have become bold.” She stated, a look of disgust on her face.

I looked down. At my food. It smelled amazing.

I started eating, and it tasted as good as it smelled. The French toast was fluffy, and sweet.

“We were adopted by humans.” I said quietly.

“What?” She nearly spit out her coffee she was drinking.

“I’m so sorry. How could that even have happened.”

“I’m not sure exactly.” I answered honestly. But I think I did know. And from my expression, she knew something was troubling me.

“Can I see your hand?” She asked, giving me her hand.

I oblige and offer her my hand.

She holds onto it for a few seconds, and let’s go, seeming satisfied.

“So there was a huge mix up huh? I bet a lot of those agencies were hoping for a mix up like that. To get rid of more supernaturals as children. They’re less dangerous at a young age.” She sighed and continued.

“There’s something else though,” a book flew through the doors I had walked through and she caught it in her hand.

“You have been bound. At least, your other side has been. I haven’t seen magic like this in many, many years. A mix of dark and light magic. Someone, wanted to hide you.” She flipped through the pages, focusing hard on each word.

“Hm.” She hummed.

“Well, sorry dear, looks like I can’t break this one for you. But that’s okay. It will keep your protected.”

“But it hasn’t,” I say, pointing at my face.

“Oh honey, not like what you think. Your other side is bound, so I have no idea what you are. Werewolf, yes. Other half, no clue. And that’s the best protection you could ever ask for, especially as a hybrid.”

I looked at her, confused. I continued eating as she explained how the supernatural world worked.

“Well, rarely hybrids will get both of their parents gifts, most only have one gift. It’s often dominated by which ever parents genes are strongest. And if you have both, well, you have somewhat of a bounty on your head.

I nodded, shoving a piece of sausage in my mouth.

“Well, I think that’s enough for this morning. Oh, here,” she hands my garbage bag.

“I made a house call last night to that thrift store, there is varying sizes. I wasn’t sure exactly what size you all are, so I made a good guess.”

I took the bag from her. I went to give her money but she shooed it away.

“Are you sure?”

“Consider it another gift.” She placed her hand on top of mine.

I felt so at ease.

“Why are you so kind? You don’t know us.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment.

“You’re just babies. And I could tell you were all dealt a bad hand. What kind of faerie would I be had i not shown you kindness? Just by the touch of your hand I know quite a bit. So at least my hunch was right to help you four.”

At those words, I pulled her into a hug. She hugged me back, just as tight.

‘I like this faerie, she’s so kind.’ Leta yipped in my head.

“Now Darian, Go get those kids up, they need to eat, you can have second breakfast if you’d like. Oh, and tell Samantha to hide her wings, we do have some humans here this morning.”

Before I left I turned around and looked back at her.

“What’s your name, you know ours, so I want to know.” I asked.

“It’s Mally dear.” She smiled.

I nodded and walked out of the kitchen. As I walked out, the platters of food came floating out behind me, setting themselves up in the dining room.

I chuckled in spite of myself. Who needs help when you can literally do it all yourself without breaking a sweat.

I made it back to our room, bag of clothes in hand.

The kids hadn’t even stirred yet. I flicked on the light switch, causing them to jump awake. The twins must have forgot where we were because they looked frightened. They eased up when the saw me. Samantha sat up and yawned loudly.

“Hey guys, I got some fresh clothes. Change into something new.”

“Thank you DD!” The twins exclaimed in unison.

“Don’t thank me, thank our lovely host Mally, when you get to breakfast.”

I scruffed up their hair and went into the bathroom. I splashed my face with cold water and used the bar of soap sitting on the counter to wash my face. My fingers ran over the bumpy scars on my face. I stared at my reflection. And it stared back at me.

My once amber hued eye, was nearly a charcoal black, with white spots that nearly looked like the stars in the night sky. I couldn’t see color out of that eye anymore, but at least I could see.

‘Silver linings huh?’ I said to Leta.

‘You could say that again.’ She barked.

I came out of the bathroom, and all the kids were dressed in new clothes.

Samantha had an outfit in her hands for me. She handed it over and I walked back into the bathroom to change. I looked at the clothes she had given me.

A black tshirt with a band name I didn’t recognize, gray sweatpants with the words ‘boss babe’ on the left leg. I laughed at what she picked for me. I slid both of them on. Something had fallen to the ground. I picked it up and realized it was like an eye patch, except it would cover up a portion of your face. I put it on, fixing my hair around it. It covered my scars almost completely.

Once I was satisfied, I walked out of the bathroom.

The kids were sitting on their beds, watching cartoons. It wasn’t quite 8am yet so we all sat there, watching them. Finn had finally woken up and came to sit on my lap, purring happily.

I was only half paying attention to the show, when Samantha got up abruptly and walked over to the bag still filled with clothes.

“I almost forgot, we all got a new pair of shoes! And some socks, here.” She hands me a black pair of trainers and some long white socks. I pulled off my old white ones then threw them in the trash.

I slipped into the black ones. Nice and comfy.

“Come on guys, let’s get breakfast.” Will and Faith grabbed my hands.

“Oh and Samantha, hide you-“

“I know I know already,” Samantha waved me off. She skipped to the dining room, her wings no where in sight.

I let out a sigh of relief. I keep forgetting she just knows what’s up now. It’s going to take some getting used to.

——

I was pretty full from earlier so I watched the kids eat up as much breakfast as they could stomach. I had thought about the offer the old woman had given me.

It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to stay another night. Get our strength up, buy a few things before we keep heading north. I wondered what was happening back at the farm.

Was there a warrant out for our arrest? Is someone looking for us? More importantly, what’s Susan doing now?

I push the thoughts to the back of my head. We’re fine. We’re safe.

Samantha was looking at me thoughtfully.

“How do you guys feel about staying for one more night?” I asked.

The twins face lit up.

“YES!” They shouted in unison. I couldn’t help but giggle. Their easy going nature was always so refreshing.

“I don’t see why not.” Samantha shrugged. Something was on her mind. Something she didn’t want to tell me. But she would have to eventually.

Mally sat down at the table with us.

“Hello everyone! Get a Goodnight sleep?”

“We did!” Faith beamed at her.

“Thank you for the clothes.” Will said, pointing at his newly acquired Superman shirt. He always loved super hero’s.

“Of course little ones. Anything to help good friends.” She tossled their hair. I noticed Samantha was shifting in her seat.

“Samantha what’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange since we got to breakfast.” I eyed her in concern.

“It’s just- I’m sad. Did you tell her?” Samantha looked over at Mally.

“Now Sammi dear, I told you to tell her. It’s one of the big steps.”

“Tell me what?”

“This is where I’m meant to be.” She whispered.

I couldn’t help but smile. I put my hand on her shoulder comforting her. “Now why are you worried about telling me that? That’s really good to hear. It means you’ll be in safe hands, and I won’t have to worry as much for you. Mostly because I already know you’re strong.”

Samantha burst into happy tears and hugged me.

“Wait Sammi isn’t leaving with us tomorrow?” Faith asked, tears threatening to spill over in her eyes.

“Oh no, I’m totally coming with, I’ll just be coming back here after. It’s all apart of the process.” She hugged Faith close.

“See, now that wasn’t so hard.” Mally smiled warmly.

“Maybe today I can show you some tricks that all faeries know. You three can enjoy the show!” Mally said excitedly.

“Oh yes please!” Samantha chirped.

The human family came out of their room. It was two women and their 3 children.

“Platter is set up over there! Take all you can eat.” Mally said to them, smiling.

“Thank you so much, you have a lovely bed and breakfast.”

“Oh you’re very welcome, and you have a beautiful family.” Mally beamed at them.

They all filled their plates, their children chattering happily.

——

After the human family left, Mally had turned on her closed sign and led us out back. What I hadn’t realized last night, in the dark, was the beautiful botanical garden she had.

Beautiful didn’t even begin to describe it really. All flowers of different shapes, sizes and colors, a rose bush shaped into that of a peacock, a horse, chess pieces. Butterflies flew around gracefully, bees buzzing along. Spiders making their intricate webs, dancing along as they spun.

And I smelled like a dream.

“This is absolutely gorgeous.” I told her.

“Thank you.” She picks a flower and puts it in Faith’s hair.

She giggled happily.

Faith and Will started racing around, being careful not to run into anything.

“So Samantha, want to learn some basic faerie skills?”