Deception (9 page)

He stopped, looked back at the house, and ducked both of us around the corner of the tree line by the road.  Now hidden from anyone else’s view, I was suddenly scared to be alone with Ian.  That had never happened. 

I couldn’t say what I wanted to say.  Well, that was most of the time with Ian.

“About time!”

“Time for what?”  I was shaking now.

He turned and looked at me, “I’m sorry about your skirt.”  I was paralyzed with fear and excitement in one just staring at him waiting for his next move.  He looked like he was battling with some major decision.  I watched him bite his bottom lip and felt the need to give him that moment.  I reached down to check the cut on my leg.  When I couldn’t find it with my fingers, I bent to look.  The cut was gone.

“What is going on here, Ian?”  Fear swelled in every inch of my body.  The cuts never healed
that
fast, did they?

“Walk with me,” he took my hand. 

We walked briskly down past the brick wall covered with ivy that was close to the old abandoned church at the end of Mendon Street.   I noticed the dandelions floating in the air even with the absence of a breeze. The phrase “growing like weeds” was easy to understand if you hung around my neighborhood.

He’d sent mixed signals for days.  AM yesterday.  FM today.  I would guess one thing, then something else the next. My mind went in meaningless directions as if I might be a sailing ship on the open sea and Ian was my one and only beacon, every analogy available to explain it.

Out of nowhere Ian shouted, “I know.”

I turned a quarter turn, jerked forgetting his hand was tethered to me, and bumped into him.  “Sorry, time for what?”

“You heard that?” he raised his eyebrows stepping back with his right foot to keep his balance.  I didn’t have time to think about why.  “Grace, I want to tell you something.  Something I have wanted to tell you for a long time.  But it is complicated,” he paused looking around him. 

I grimaced.  “Maybe I am the complicated one.”  I looked up to see dandelions rising out of the grass before us and one in his hand.  I cocked my head and looked at him. 

“No, you are crystal clear to me!”  He looked like he was smiling, but in pain while doing it.  The flower disintegrated into thin air, on purpose.  He looked to the darkness as if he were about to talk to someone else, but shook his head side-to-side and then back to me.

“How—did you do that?” I asked.

“I need to tell you something about myself… and you, but I cannot tell you out here.”  He looked around again, but I saw no one, anywhere.  “We need to go inside or somewhere else.  I cannot tell you
here
,” he repeated himself.  I didn’t hesitate. I wanted to know anything he had to say that involved a conversation with “myself and you” pertaining to the two of us.

“My house?” I offered.  The car was at the party, but we could get it later.  Or so I thought.

As we walked that direction I asked him, “Did you leave all those flowers all this time?  The dandelions?”

“You’ll know soon enough.” 

I looked down at our hands twisted together staring at the way he gripped my fingers just tightly enough not to hurt me.  I could have silently analyzed this sudden change in Ian for a lot longer, but it suddenly hit me that he was about to say that something life changing I’d figured out earlier with the random flowers and mood shifts showing up and now wondered if I really wanted to hear it.  What if it was something I couldn’t say yes too?  What if it wasn’t what I wanted all these years and he was about to leave me?  What if…

I looked up at his eyes, but I just couldn’t keep them there, so I moved them back to our hands.  I was deathly scared. When he broke the connection I was immediately sad, but refused to show any emotion on my face until I heard what he had to say.

It became important to me that I should say yes to whatever it might be just to keep from losing him.

He sighed heavily, “I’m more than what you know, your lifelong friend.  I come from somewhere else.  A place where your family originated also and have been your guardian since before you were born.”

I interrupted, “What, like my mom and dad are not—.” 
Shoot! 
I’m adopted and Ian’s my brother.
  It's why he never made a move. 
Beginning to unravel like the threads of a delicate fabric falling apart at the seams, I asked nervously, “Please say you’re not my brother or something.”   He nodded a “no” making me release the abated breath.

“What I am about to tell you does not change who I am, but what I am.  I am still the same on the inside.  The way I feel, the Ian you have known, that is still me.  But I am also something else.  Please, just don’t be scared.”

Before he could go on I stopped him, “What Halloween joke are you playing?”

“This is not a joke, Grace.  Sometimes one’s destiny is intertwined with another’s so much that you cannot change no matter what you do.  My mother sent me to protect you a long time ago and I, myself, waited a long time to tell you all this.”

An instant eye roller. “Yeah, yeah.  My knight in shining armor.   Storybook setting of my life.  Ian,
please
do not tease me right now.  I don’t think I can take it,” I could tell I sounded tortured by my own words.  The holding hands, the quiet gazebo “aloneness.”  I just couldn’t take rejection right now.  I would rather him walk away and just let me keep dreaming.

“Grace, do you trust me?” he said with a whisper.  His own hands continuing to fight like they do when he is nervous.

I hesitated but said with an edgy tone, “Yes.” But did I trust my heart?

He looked towards the only light coming into the gazebo.  Slowly he stepped into the light.  He looked so scared. 

I blinked looking at him puzzled, then again in disbelief.  Perusing my own thoughts as jumbled as they were, I relied on the fact that logic wasn’t an option anymore.  Three Mississippi’s had gone by and still he didn’t tell me what light bulb he’d switched on.  Ian was replaced…by an elf.  That’s it, I was hallucinating.

His skin was a pale almost glowing yellow.  His ears?  His ears seemed a bit extended for normal ears.  Like an elf’s ear.  Just barely, though nothing unattractive.  But his eyes…they were still Ian’s magnificent green eyes, but different. I stepped a little closer to him squinting as if I might bring in my focus better.  I reached out to his skin and touched his arm like I’d rarely ever been able to just do. When I looked back at his eyes there was the smallest amount of silver in the light complete with the iridescent green I stared at daily.    This couldn’t be real!  All the fairy tale talk was real.  Magic tricks to make fun of me.

“I don’t know what to say.  Why lie all this time?    You really were always perfect, because you’re not human.  And you are going to tell me you are leaving and I am losing you.  You lied all this time.”  I was hurt and in shock. 

His eyes closed,  “I wanted to tell you for so long.  Know that will not hurt you.  I would never hurt you.  I am not human, Grace, but I would never leave you unless you asked me too.  Watching over you has been a blessing and a curse..” 

He sounded very final.  Like a warning.  Dim memories of being rescued time and again edged my mind.  They never made sense.  Not human?  All this time.   Somehow I knew he would always turn out to not be normal, but I always wondered how normal I myself might be.  “What are you?  Why have you not told me all these years?”  I felt sick,  bile running up my throat.  Suppressing the feeling to hold my breath for fear of a panic attack or worse—vomiting in front of him I tried take a breath but realized I lost too much air in too quick a time. I started backing up to sit down again on the gazebo bench but before I could hear an answer, I lost my footing and hit the ground.   

“Did you kill her with your good looks?” a voice sounded from the darkness.  “Pike, just help me lie her down.”  A taller version of Ian with a different longer, more rounded face with shorter, darker colored hair and a long giant bow on his back stepped into the gazebo and grabbed my legs as Ian turned me to lean on the back of the bench.  “Were running out of time.  We have business to get done.  Just get it over with and find out if she is with us or not.” The harsh voice I recognized but couldn’t place, stood over and moved my hair away from my face.  Paralyzed with fear, I could barely see what was before me.

Someone huffed and puffed and paced beside us.  I could hear all of this, but not see it after my vision blurred to blindness.  He thought I’d passed out.  And I didn’t know who else was here. 

“Will you shut up?” Ian said under his teeth.

Ian asked, I think, me, if I could hear him.

“We have to go.  Your mother will not be happy if we are late.  You care too much about a girl who probably thinks you are a freak of nature.  Never gave her a chance to see the likes of anyone else.”

“Just stop it!”

“Ian, stop what?” I whispered and rubbed my eyes.  “I can hear you, but….”  He rubbed the back of my hand.  When he thought I as asleep, he’d made a habit of that over the past few years lying on the trampoline looking at stars. 

I relaxed now as soon as he did.  “Ian, I think that…” 

I opened my eyes.  “Oh my,” I blinked, eyes wide.  “Oh, my…you are real.  All these years…I never knew.  What
are
you?”  I scooted away in fear.  All was not good in my little corner of the world.

He shrugged and stood taller.  “Fey. Fairies. Fair Folk.  We have many names!  Prefer Fey, most of us.”

“Good or bad guys?” I aske leaning as far away as possible. 

“Well, have I ever hurt you?” he exaggerated his answer.  He acted calm, but even the slightly altered appearance didn’t hide his long known nervous habit of running his hand through his hair.

“No!” I said nervous too.  Not fully alert I joked to make light of the situation.  “Aragorn here somewhere?  Legolas?”   He frowned at my attempt.  “I heard someone else talking.  Who else is here?” I looked around.

He didn’t answer that question but said, “I had to wait till you were eighteen.  Or almost.  I am still the same, but on the outside I am…this.  You are a very special girl where I come from.  I know I sound...goofy right now, but it is all real.    I will do anything to keep you safe and always have, you know this.  You are more than just my friend, Grace.”

He was the one trembling, but it was him that approached me.  The guardian claim disturbed me enough to keep him talking just to find out more.  Ian was always saving me, awesome at anything in school, creating the most fascinating fairy tales…I kind of hoped he wouldn’t fly around the garden and drop pixie dust.  I have known him since grade school.  There was more to this.

“Did you say something about your mother?  Is she like you?”  My mind was moving faster than I could speak. Having never met his mother before I questioned that now.  Ian told me many times his mother was on a business trip, again and again.  I always thought it odd or he was that embarrassed about his family for some reason. The other voice said his mother was waiting.

When he didn't answer, I watched him while he warred inside.

Watch out Tink, I thought, he is way hotter than any fairy I have ever imagined.  Fey!  He is not really
that
different. We can work on the honesty part. 

Yes, I have known for a long time that he was just too great to be normal.  Yes, I do love him.  I cannot believe I am saying it.  I did just hear him say he would never leave me.    It
better
not mean like a brother. 

  Yes, I don’t care if he is…not human. Wow, I finally said it. I don’t care that he looks a bit different than my other Ian.  He is still my Ian.   And really, he didn’t look all that different.  Standing in front of me, he had his hair falling just in front of that one eye, the crooked smile missing at the moment, and his eyes just as mesmerizing. 

What if this was all a trick?   He does not really care about me.  I have read the fairy tales of how fairies lured you in and you never returned.  You became a slave or something.  If this was all real, could I trust this boy, man, who’d I’d always known. 

“Grace, I…you… are in danger.  I have a lot to tell you, but not where we can be heard by the too many ears out there.” 

He seemed to read my fear but for the life of me, my mind went blank.  “Did you hear me?” he asked. 

Still blank I offered edgily,  “Still wondering if you are real and if you are going to leave me?” I asked.  If normal is the reality I knew this morning, is it the same reality of normal I have now?  I rather like the not normal.  If this is what I get with it I couldn’t help but wonder where it could lead.

I looked him up and down.  Yep, still the same from five minutes ago, but his skin had taken back on the tanned skin of my Ian!  The golden glow had dissipated.  When I looked up again he was giving me an eyebrow wiggling acknowledgement of catching me ogling.

“Your skin was glowing and now it is not.”

Another grunted nearby.  The voice from before.

“It is affected by our emotions.  More pronounced in a few of us than others.  At least recently.” 

I pondered this for a moment questioning his emotional pull where I was concerned.   And he said there was more than just him acknowledging the voice I heard.

“You asked me on the first day of middle school if I would say I was your boyfriend so Kin would leave you alone.  Do you remember that?”  I nodded and blushed at the foolish memory.

“And when you asked me to say in the cafeteria that you’d won a trip to the nurse for a headache so you could hide all day in the library.  Lame, but I did it.  What about the time I found you crying in the bathroom because Kin had embarrassed you so bad you didn’t think you could show your face again?  I stayed in the
girl’s
bathroom with you.” 

“Is there a point to this?” I frowned.  My stomach flipped over twice and back again.

“You needed saving then, and I am saving you now.  You may not know it yet, but I
will
save you, Grace.  I am a selfish creature where I come from and will not pretend that I don’t have an ulterior motive or that I wouldn’t do anything to convince you to come with me.  I don’t want to lose you.   But...” he held my shoulders, “I am giving you a choice.  We need to move now, or we are both vulnerable.”  He pulled at me shirtsleeve.  “And no, not the Tinkerbell kind!  Much, much worse.  Fairy tales are not always just fun and games.  Are you sure you want to go with me, my pretty girl?” 

My stomach flip flopped and hit the floor! Pretty girl?  And did he really just read my mind?  Why exactly was I in danger?  From who?  Or what?  The spontaneous, daring side of my brain was pushing me to step on the cracks in the sidewalk and run the course.

“Why me?” I was much too fascinated to walk away now.

“Why not?”  He looked at me with hungry eyes.  He placed his hand against my cheek and softly rubbed his thumb back and fort.   He’d never stood this close to me where I could feel his breath on my face or smell his scent so strong or feel his skin on mine.  I unintentionally lifted my nose near to see if he smelled the same now scared for very different reasons.

“I could say the same about me.  Why would you still want me…like this?”   He was perfection to my boringness.  I scanned him over once more and flinched at him catching me in the act.  He didn’t say anything and this Ian, I knew well.   He was trying to sweet talk me into going  and I really was reluctant to say yes.  However, the heart was winning.   What would I miss if I said no?  I couldn’t risk the thought of losing him. 

He held out his hand.

“I’ll take my chances.”

I’d never done this before.  Run away or run anywhere with a guy.
But this wasn’t just any guy. He had some explaining to do and it really seemed like he could read my mind.  If so, I am in some serious trouble.  And if he is out of this world, what else can he do? 

I blushed at the thought of him already knowing how I felt.  It wasn’t fair I so.

  And I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
It just wasn’t possible!  I should have been able to tell by now if he could read my mind.  At war with my thoughts, I finally chalked it all up to the fact that I would go with Ian no matter what, so I held onto the best smile I could for him to react.

            A look down at his hand and back to his smile, and we ran.

“Are there others like you?”

“Many!” he said.  “There is a place not really named, but more just exists.  We need to get there.  When I get you to safety, I will explain more,” he said in whispers taking corners under shadows only.  The leaves ruffled behind us.  Ian kept watch there too.

“How do you know I am the one you should be taking?  Why not someone else?”

He didn’t answer.

I stared at him as he propelled me through the night air.  Wow! That was all I could think about.  Was anything real? 

“The door will close if we are not in it in time.  They will close it at midnight to anyone from the human world.  Then
you
cannot get in again till summer solstice.” He was still running and pulling.

“Where are we going? Will I see my mother and father again?” I asked as I forced him to stop.  He turned a quarter turn with my hand still in his and told me, “Yes, you will.  I am not taking you far from your human world.   This world is within reach if humans would open their eyes just right.  Humans are not known for their keen sense of perception and observations.  We choose to keep it hidden.”  His face darkened.  “ Grace, I am a danger to you in either world.   Are you sure you want to do this?  You can walk away and you will never be bothered again.  Please.  It would be the right choice.  I am not good for you.” 

He seemed really into trying to get me to say he was too dangerous and I should leave.  And besides, I
am
human!  He insulted me.

“It is your choice.”  We were at a crossroad.

I already said yes.  He nudged my hand to indicate time was an issue.

“I KNOW!” I shrieked.   “You already said that.  You sound like you are telling me to go with you while you are telling to me stay away at the same time.”

“I am.  For your safety, you should stay away from me and the place you are going now.  The human world is safer for a person like you.” 

“Well,
I am
choosing what is good for
me
.  And it is to be with you right now.  I trust you.”  My heart skipped a beat. 

“You shouldn’t.”