Fey Darkly.

Chapter One


Talena Hunched over the counter of "Fantasy Bound", struggling to hold her eyelids open. She gazed around the dusty book store. 'I really should clean this dump up' she thought to herself. She had opened the store early in the morning, and was waiting for her replacement so she could go home.

She passed the time by looking through many of the old literature throughout the store. She paused on a fantasy novel that often caught her eye. "Fiction or Fantasy: Fairytale's revealed". Faerie's were not unheard of, but she chuckled as she skimmed through the pages. 'Most faeries are small, almost in the image of Tinkerbell. Very mischevious creatures, known only to do destructive things.' She laughed out loud in spite of herself. Talena looked at herself in the mirror. 'Do i resemble Tinkerbell?' She smiled.

Talena knew for a fact that not all faeries were small and mischevious. Faeries came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Her being one of them, she found this book insulting. Most faeries lived underground, hiding from the outside world. Talena chose a different life. She lived in the human world by choice, although some faeries were exiled to the human world, some would prefer death to the alternative. Unlike her kin, she enjoyed the human world very much. She loved the way they live. With her own apartment and job, she feels more free then living in the underground courts with her kind.

Underground, things were run quite different. Not unlike the humans, the faeries were divided into class or rank. Poor, middle class, and rich = Bottom feeders, soldiers/common fey, and royalty. Though punishments for crime are much different and sometimes more cruel. You could say that she lived in the human world as a safe haven. She has been hiding from the Queen of HollowSin for the past 6 years. If she were found, her punishment would be death by torture. The funny thing is, she has no idea what she did to put herself in the evil Queens radar. She was pondering this when the bell above the door rang.

Janine was 5'9, average enough. She shuffled through the door, looking none too happy to be there. Her face brightened, however, when she noticed Talena in the corner of the dark store.

"Lena! Nice to see you again. Any wretched customer's drop by?" Janine asked. Janine was older then Talena by human standards, by faerie standards, however, Talena could be her great, great grandmother. "No, not yet. Same as usual. I am so glad you're here!" Talena said in response. Janine walked over to her dark corner and glanced at the book over her shoulder.

"Ahh. Still entertaining yourself with faeries and vampyres and other such nonsense? My dear girl when will you take your head out of these books and find a handsome young man to sweep you off your feet?" Talena stared at her blankly for a moment. A smile creeped over her face. She couldn't help herself. She had someone in mind, not that she could share this information with Janine. A handsome young man came into the store a few times this week. Never buying anything, but gazing her way whenever he thought she wasn't looking. Finally yesterday, he gained the courage to approach her. He introduced himself as Viktor, and asked if she would accompany him to the Theatre the following weekend. Just thinking about it made her blush in embarassment. Janine looked pleased. "I see. You already have a young suiter after you. Oh do tell." Janine teased.

Talena shook her pleas off and strolled across the store towards the employee break room. She grabbed her coat off the hook and grabbed her purse from behind the counter. She looked around at Janine, " A lady does not kiss and tell" she winked. Janine looked at her and burst out laughing. "Your a feisty one, Lena. Now you get out of here. Go home and relax, or better yet, go out with this 'Mystery man' and have a great time!" she advised.

Talena waved her farewell and stepped out onto the street. The sun was shining so brightly she was almost blind after the dank light of the store. She pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and headed down the street. Her thoughts drifted back to the handsome Viktor. Handsome indeed. But there was something else about him that attracted her. As lonely as Talena was, she tried to shy away from male humans. Mixing always ended badly with her kind. But he was different. There was something in his aura that drew her to him. She let her mind wander to other things.

She had just rounded the corner when she heard the blast. It sounded like thousands of gunshots all at once. Talena froze. She slowly turned around to see billowing smoke rising from the street. She tore around the corner toward the book store. Everything went in slow motion. She stared in awe at what was her workplace. The door and windows were blown away, leaving gaping holes behind that looked like the hollow face of a jack-o-lantern. Black smoke billowed through the windows and above the street. Her world slanted. 'Janine!' she thought to herself. She ran toward the burning building, but it was too late. As she approached the door the ceiling caved in. A wordless scream escaped her throat.

She fell to the sidewalk, tears overflowing from her eyes. She heard the sirens screaming down the street towards her. She couldn't feel anything. She was numb. Then a warmth filled her. Anger. She vowed then and there that she would find whoever did this and they would pay severely for the pain they caused her.

To be cont....