Chapter 1 – My Shadow
You see, I wouldn’t really call my life normal. I see things that I can’t explain.
But Dad! I swear! There was a boy there! When he smiled he had fangs!
Courtney, there’s no boy. This is the fifth time you woke me up tonight. Go to bed.
It has been going on ever since I was three. The strange boy I saw standing in the corner of my room, he looked about the same age as me and grew with me. He had pale ivory skin and turquoise colored eyes that almost glowed in moonlight. He had jet black hair that looked well conditioned and shimmered. He wore clothes that looked normal for any other kid.
He only appeared after midnight or sooner when I was upset. Once, when I was nine and crying my eyes out (no one believed me when I said that a stone griffin waved at me), he got out of his corner, walked up to my bed, and wiped away my tears. Surprisingly, his hand was very cold.
“Don’t cry,” He had whispered in soothing voice, “I believe you more than the others.”
I blinked out my eyes, fighting back the tears forming, “Real—“
Then he was gone.
Before I go on about my friend I see at night, I should tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Courtney and I’m sixteen years old. I have black hair and an unusual, natural amethyst highlight. My eyes are also the same shade of purple. I wouldn’t call myself pretty, but I guess I’m average. I never had any friends, so I was often reading or drawing some of the things I saw. My mother died when I was born so I never saw her. She didn’t even want to hold me.
Oh, did I mention I had a photographic memory? I also have the ability to draw the picture without opening my eyes, almost like printing from a computer. People think I’m crazy when I say I actually see these things so that explains my loneliness.
Anyway, let’s get back to the reality.
It’s a clear moonlit summer night. It’s about midnight and my friend was standing in his corner watching me with his brilliant turquoise eyes.
I sparked up every inch of my courage and sat up from my bed and looked at him directly for the first time since I was three.
Come on talk to him. If he was going to hurt you he would’ve done it by now! I was telling myself.
“Um…” I tried to sound braver than I actually was; I continued nervously, “If you are tired of standing, you can sit here with me.” I scooted over on the bed to make room for him, “Or if you want I could hop down stairs and get you a chair…”
He walked over slowly, clearing the space between us, and then sat cautiously on the opposite side of the bed.
Okay, here it goes. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
He tensed a bit and then relaxed, “Blake,” He said in a manlier voice than the one I heard before. He leaned closer and caressed my cheek with his cold hands, “As of why I’m here… I guess I would say to protect you. You humans are so fragile.”
“Protect me? From what? Wait, wait. You’re not human? Then what are you?” I spoke so fast I didn’t think he heard any of the questions.
Blake took a deep breath, “Yes, protect you. I can’t tell you what. You’re right about me not being human, but you need to figure out what I am.” He answered all my questions faster than I had asked them. He smirked and took his hand off my face.
Just looking at those stunning blue eyes got my heart beating. I felt myself blush. I wanted to do whatever he wanted.
Wait. Fangs, pale, cold skin, only appears at night, unchallenged charm. I knew what he was.
“You are going to think I’m crazy if I told you what I concluded.” Concluded? Nice job making yourself a nerd.
“Really? Well you are less crazy then you think, Courtney.” He smiled, slightly showing white teeth that were as white as his skin.
“Wait how do you know my—never mind,” I sighed, “Vampire?” As soon as I said the word I regretted.
He was silent for a couple minutes, staring into my eyes with a hard expression. It made me so nervous. I blushed and hid under the cover of my bed.
“You’re smarter than I thought,” I heard him whisper, “That’s a good sign.”
I uncovered my face but he was gone again.
Chapter 2 – I Find out I’m a Princess
I was sitting in Biology taking a test when one of the weirdest things ever happened.
“The answer to that question is B,” a tiny voice had said in my ear.
I turned my head to see who had spoken to me but all the rest of my classmates were in the concentrating hard on their papers.
“Wow, you study hard.”
This time I turned back to look on my assignment and saw a tiny woman with pointy ears, butterfly wings, azure colored skin and a faint cobalt glow around her. She was wearing a sapphire colored summer dress that matched the color of her eyes.
“And you are very blue,” I whispered. “All you can really do is study when you have nothing better to do.”
“Ah, I see Blake was right about you. You can see us!” She poof-ed away and appeared again sitting on my shoulder, “That’s very good because most creatures can’t even see sprites.”
The bell rang signaling the end of 8th period, the last day of school, and the beginning of summer. I smiled, no more studying for 3 months.
“You know I’m actually surprised you didn’t scream when you saw me. Blake said you would. By the way, my name is Sapphire.” The tiny fairy smiled, “If you want I could take you home.”
“A little thing like you? How?”
Then the fairy poured some powder on me then I appeared on my bed. But there were many other colored sprites floating around my room. There were also tiny dragons the size of lizards, unicorns, centaurs, a small puppy version of Cerberus, the three headed dog from Greek myths. And there was Blake, sitting right next to me.
“Why the heck are all these things here?” I screamed.
“We need your help,” Blake looked like he was about to cry, but I don’t think vampires can cry.
“The world is in danger of a huge war against the demons.” Sapphire was weeping now.
“Wait. Why me?” So many questions popped in my head I didn’t think I could ask them all.
“Ask your father why you have purple eyes and hair. Then wait for Blake to return,” the elder yellow sprite whispered. It sounded as though he had difficulty breathing.
Then they all disappeared with a great flash of rainbow light.
I avoided asking my dad about why I could see all these creatures. They didn’t scare me as much as I thought they would. But that night I was sitting on my bed and Blake just happened to be there. We talked for a couple minutes until…
Boom! Pop!
“What was that?” I asked, uncertain on how to react.
Blake hopped off my bed and went into a battle position, bearing his teeth. I hadn’t noticed before but he had sharp claws.
A silhouette of an angel appeared behind the curtain of my window, but I knew full well that it wasn’t. A black aura surrounded this man. Evil.
The bird-man flapped his wings, and nearly took out the whole wall. I hung onto the bedpost to avoid smashing into the paneling. Then I saw what he looked like.
He had charcoal black hawk wings that spanned about ten feet I would guess, snow white skin, midnight black eyes that looked as though they could look right through you, and black hawk feet with five inch long talons. He had the upper appearance of a man but the lower part of his body was covered in feathers.
“Ah, princess,” He cooed in a British accent, “so nice to finally meet you. Now if you’d come with me, I’ll escort you to Master Vetis.”
Blake growled, “She’ll never go with you, Zagan!”
Zagan turned to Blake and gave him a very heated look, “Well now Blake, no one asked you.” He bowed like a gentleman, his expression polite again, “Princess.”
Blake was gritting his teeth by now. Whatever happened between these two left him with a grudge.
“Princess…? Me? I think you got me confused with someone else, I’m not a princess.” I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do.
“Courtney stay there and don’t move okay?” Blake said trying to be calm, but I could tell he was angry. He sprint at Zagan and tackled him, knocking him out of the sky, and slamming him hard against an old oak tree.
Zagan howled in pain. He grabbed Blake’s shirt and threw him to the floor of my bedroom, leaving a crack in the floor. Thankfully my father works night shifts.
Blake stood up again, and lunged at him again, this time flying outside and crashing onto the ground two stories below. Zagan tried throwing him again but Blake grabbed his arm and broke it.
Zagan grabbed him with his good arm and flew up into the night sky, continuing the fight in air. Blake used his claw to cut off almost half of Zagan’s wing, and they both fell, unmoving.
I sprinted down the stairs and out the door to Blake’s lifeless body, “No, you can’t die. Not now. Please! Blake!” I cried.
Blake coughed black blood, opened one of his blue eyes and smiled, “I told you not to move. And I’m not dying for a long time.” Then he sat up and growled at the winged demon that was now standing, his wing wrapped around his now bleeding arm.
“We’ll be back Princess,” He spat green blood, “Just wait. We’ll be back.” A fiery red portal appeared and he limped through. Then it faded away.
Chapter 3 – My Parents
“Dad, we need to talk!” I hollered from upstairs in the afternoon. I stepped down from each step gradually and carefully.
He had just gotten up and I knew that he wouldn’t totally be in focus if I asked him about the fairies and all the rest of the creatures I’ve been talking to.
Dad was sitting at the dining room table, “What is it Court?” He yawned and took a sip of his coffee.
I sat next to him and told him all about Blake and how he visited me very night, Sapphire and the rest of the sprites, Zagan and him calling me princess, and how I was suppose to save them all from the upcoming war against the demons. From the look of his face, I knew that he knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Courtney,” he sighed, “You are a princess—“
“Oh, so you’re saying you’re not human now?” I yelled, “Couldn’t you have told me!”
“I am human,” he said with sadness in his voice, “Your mother wasn’t.”
“M-my mom?” I hadn’t really thought about my mother. Sure, she gave birth to me, but the thought of her not even wanting to hold me really ticked me off, “B-but I thought humans couldn’t see them?”
“We can’t. Tanya revealed herself to me. She was very beautiful. Nearly five feet, six inches tall. She had the same amethyst colored hair and eyes as yours. Except that all her hair was purple. She had always worn a lavender dress and tiara…” He grinned, “She also had a perfect body—“
“Okay, t-thanks for that mental picture, Dad!” I could feel my eye twitching. “So you’re saying I’m half fairy?”
“Yes. Purple is a royal color. It’s the color that the sprites decide who the next king or queen will be. Tanya was the last fairy with purple traits,” He smirked, “until you were born.” Dad was talking like I was some spy and he was giving me my mission without the exploding tape recorder.
From the corner of my eye I could see Blake sitting on the top of the flight of stairs, smiling.
“You need to be careful, Court.” Dad’s face was serious now, “they know where you are, and will do anything to take over the kingdom.
“But I’m only half fairy! Why would they want me to be their queen?”
“Well, you’re not queen until you give birth,” he chuckled a bit, “You’re mother was stubborn. She didn’t want to bear anyone’s child – until she met me. Too bad she died before she could rule for her kingdom…”
“She never even held me. Why should I even care?”
Blake walked over was now leaning against the wall. He grimaced, “It would help your people, your mother, and me...” I was about to scream, Blake what are you doing here so early? But then I remembered my dad couldn’t see him.
My dad sighed, “You would understand better if I told you the story.”
**************************************************************
My parents met when they were both 19 years old. My dad was once a huge outdoors kind of guy so he was often hiking in the forest behind his house. One day he took a new route and ended up to a field filled with every kind of flower and fruit: roses, lilies, lilacs, lotuses, cherry blossoms, golden apples, huge watermelons, and many more. In the center of this field was a huge Japanese maple tree. This tree was at least 100 long and half a mile high. The leaves were blue and glittered with gold powder and were extremely soft, perfect for making clothes. Around this tree was a small water ditch. Weather never seemed to hit this field like it was protected by something. It would drizzle a bit but nothing serious. It was extremely peaceful so he visited everyday for one year.
The creatures that lived around this field were concerned. A human had found there only safe haven and was sure to destroy it. They consulted Princess Tanya. Although the elders have ruled since Tanya’s parents died, the kingdom wasn’t really happy with it, so they always told Tanya if they had a problem.
She watched him everyday from the top of the tree making sure he didn’t try anything funny. She was fascinated with this human. He walked all so carefully but gracefully making sure not to step on any of the plants. He would look up at the maple, at awe with the size and beauty. He wouldn’t even take one leaf; just one would be a fortune.
Tanya decided that after a year the boy wasn’t any harm. She actually was starting to be attracted to his boyish charm. He was tall, thin but muscular, and had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.
One day, the young sprite was certain she wanted to talk to the handsome human. He was sitting next to the ditch staring up at the tree and she floated next to him.
“You know, there is a whole kingdom living in that tree.” She whispered into his ear.
“I could believe that. She’s huge. Never seen anything like her.”
He turned to meet the gaze of who had spoken but did not expect to see a pretty girl about his age with purple hair, eyes, and clothes. She also had complex wings that had every shade of purple.
“Hello, I’m Tanya, princess and future queen of the fairies and every magical creature above ground. And no, this is not a joke,” She smiled.
“You have a gorgeous smile. My name’s Michael.”
From that day forward Tanya and Michael spent every moment together. She told him about the anti-weather and demon shield. She taught him everything there was to know about her kingdom and he taught her about the human world. They eventually fell in love and then Tanya became pregnant.
Michael was hiking through the forest when he saw three goblins…
“Give us the baby!” A scratchy voiced goblin called.
“I will never!” Tanya screamed, flying through the forest, avoiding every tree. The baby was slowing her down so she couldn’t go as fast.
She was so close to the border of the field, only twelve feet, when the smallest of the goblins shot her with a fire tipped arrow. The arrow spread into twenty smaller arrows that all hit her back. She screamed in agony, the arrows went in deep. Then she collapsed on the forest floor.
Michael was furious. He got a nearby branch and swung the biggest goblin. The creatures were only three feet tall and didn’t really do much damage in close combat. The goblin smashed into a tree and then turned into sand. The medium goblin came after him with a knife but he just swung at him again like a baseball player hitting a homerun. And it faded into sand like the first. The littlest goblin was running, but not that fast. Michael picked him up and dropkicked him.
Michael picked up Tanya’s body. She was still breathing, but just barely. He carried her into the field, took the arrows out of her back, and laid her down on some soft grass.
He ran up to the tree, “I know you must hate me but you got to save Tanya!” He started crying, “Please!”
One by one the little sprites started reveling themselves to him and floated to their princess.
Sapphire was only a baby fairy when she said to Michael, “Don’t cry.”
After fifteen minutes, the medics declared, “She’s dead--”
Michael burst into tears. He loved her.
Then they smiled, “But we saved the baby.” Everyone helped into carry the five pounded baby girl to her father.
Michael smiled and held his daughter lovingly. She looked exactly like her mother. He wanted to protect her until he died, to make up for not protecting Tanya.
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My dad and I were weeping now. No wonder she never held me. She died protecting me. Blake walked behind me and held me. His skin was warmer now. I turned around and cried into his shoulder.
Dad wiped away his tear, “I guess this is Blake.”
“Yes sir.” He smiled and looked at me. “Just showing her I care.”
“Take good care of her. Don’t let her die like I did.” He got up from the table and stepped into his room.
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