Rise of the Night Witch

Chapter 1.6 - A Midsummer Nightmare

Recap: Last time, we learned that Simon knows about the supernatural world, too. Then, more hellhounds showed up and the two got saved by a mysterious practitioner.

"And now to you two."

A man stood behind us. A scarf as black as his raven hair covered the lower half of his face while a hat with its bottom part cut off rested on his head. Piercing brown eyes stared at me through square-rimmed spectacles. Although his face looked boyish, in a Tom Holland way, he had the tall, intimidating build of someone who worked out regularly. Which made me feel small. I didn't want to provoke him. Sensing my fear, he swung a massive wooden staff, bigger than himself, and drew black aether mist into it. The leather duster he wore above his Levi's flapped in the wind. He rose from the ground with the effortlessness of a walk in the park and floated closer. Yes, really.

I know what you think. "Doesn't he need a broomstick to fly?" - No, staves worked, too, as a focal point for energy. But normally, you also needed a familiar's help. He didn't. Was he even human?

A sense of arousal flooded through me as he came closer. Despite the whole "promiscuous bisexual" cliché, I've avoided others for most of my life. Too many abandonment issues, too much distrust. But his aura suddenly made me lower my defenses. It wasn't romantic attraction, at least, no natural one, even if he was handsome. More like a warm feeling that brought peace to my soul and removed any inhibitions I might have had.

I woke up after Simon threw the horseshoe necklace around my shoulders.

"Look, whatever you just tried," I said, "I'm underage and my Dad is a cop, so-"

"I did not mean to," he spoke, his voice low, but his tone confident.

I noticed the pointy ears that betrayed his Fae nature. Oh, noes. Disney lied to you about fairies being nice, kids. Why do you think the Europeans fearfully called them the "Fair Folk"? Because they were all as small and cute as Tinker Bell? Or because they kidnapped humans with their alluring charm and played vicious pranks with no regard for their well-being? I'm betting on the latter.

You probably think all fairies are small and with butterfly wings, but there's also human-sized types we call elves. Much like vampires or succubi, they emit a mind mojo aura that makes them look beautiful to their prey, but assuming he didn't blatantly lie - which they were incapable of - it wasn't always controllable.

"D-did you send these monsters?" I asked. "Are you in charge of this of place? You guys tell the truth, don't you?"

"Lady Titania predicted a seventy-five percent chance of a Veil breach occurring here and I came," he said. "That simple."

I knew nothing about divination, but percentage precision sounded impressive. "Do, did your Titania cause this?"

"Let's strike a bargain," he said, ignoring the question. "My godmother's bound to the Otherworld by the Veil's rules. She needs scions who operate in the mortal world for her. Not that I wanna work with someone like you, but she told me that the Council exiled your mother to the Otherworld. You must feel the same about them as I do."

My mother. Why did this Shakespearean Fairy Lady know so much about me? "Good news," I said. "I'm not interested either. How about we say goodbye and you let us walk out of the portal?"

He pointed his staff at me like a saber. "Not that simple."

"Why don't you pick on someone of your rank, changeling?"

A black young woman with a short, stocky frame and white owl mask emerged from the crimson fog. Her choice of clothes felt inappropriate given her surroundings. Like someone had attended a graveyard in a ballgown. She wore a beautiful, robe-like azure dress with a Peter Pan collar, blue boots, long white socks, and a red band tying her hair together.