Slumber (14 page)

“Calm down? I want her
dead!
” she shrieked. “I want her head cracked open like this human's here.” She spat at Shawn's body and made some sort of warding sign with her fingers.

Ash stepped forward. “Violet, hey, that's not cool—”

“Stay out of this,” she snarled, panting. “Or you'll be next.”

Tam was breathing hard too. He kept himself between Ruby and Violet, and Ruby could see his fingers twitching a little. “Ruby is mine. I claim her.”

“No,” Ruby said. “I don't want to be claimed by you.”

“Shut up, Ruby. You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Yes, I do. I want nothing from you. You're all rotten from the inside, except Violet here, who's rotten inside and out.”

Violet tried to swing at her again, but Tam caught her by the waist and shoved her away. “I said
back off!”

Tam jabbed his index finger, the one with the gold ring, at the ground between them. Violet halted, chest heaving, and the other fairies muttered and took a pace backwards too.

Violet gave a cruel laugh. “You're wasting your time trying to save her, Tam. Look at her. She's too stupid to understand any of this. She doesn't
get
us.”

“She will.”

“Oh, here we go again. Tam, ever the hopeful one. Always thinking the best of his humans. But this time I'm going to show you once and for all that they are not worth it.”

Violet turned to Ruby. “I'll do something for you, human, that Tam won't.”

“And what's that?”

“Give you the chance to leave Cottingley, freed forever.”

“How?”

“By playing a game.”

The other fairies murmured to each other, some uncomfortably.

“Forget it,” Ruby said. “I'm not that dumb.”

“What if I make the prize worth your while? Say, if you win, I lift the curse from your mother and bring luck back to your family. The woman who spawned you would be cured, and you…you would be free to go, luck in your pocket, and we'd never bother you again.”

“So Mom's still alive?” Ruby gasped. A sour look crossed Violet's face. Ruby guessed that meant
yes
.

Mom would be cured? Shitty things would stop happening to them? She could leave Cottingley and their psycho lifestyle for good?

“And if I lose?”

Violet's lips lifted in a sweet smile. “We get to see the necklace around your throat tighten to the last link in its chain.”

Ruby swallowed, feeling the metal hot against her throat. It must have stopped tightening when she started to accept life at Cottingley. Just like Tam said it would.

Save Mom. Or die. One thing Ruby appreciated about Violet was her lack of bullshit.

Tam's body was tense, his eyes darting back and forth between them. He was shaking his head at her. “Don't do it,” he mouthed.

Ruby didn't need protection. Especially not from Tam. She turned to Violet. “Okay,” she said. “I agree.”

The fairies gave a collective gasp. Then they started chattering.

“How long do you think she'll last?”

“A day, at best.”

“I think it'll be a couple hours, tops.”

“Oh, that's gonna so be gross when her head pops off…”

The look on Tam's face made her shiver. He looked…almost frightened.

For her.

“What about the dead human?” Cosette said, nose wrinkling.

“I'll bury Shawn,” Ruby said.

Tam took a step toward her. “Ruby—”

She snatched her arm away from his hand. “Leave me alone. I want to do this myself.” She turned to Violet. “I'll meet you back at the house when I'm finished.”

“I'll be waiting.” Violet jerked her head at the others and headed back to the mansion. They all trailed behind her, except for Tam.

“I don't understand you at all,” Tam said when they were alone. “I tried to protect you from Violet, but you ignored my warnings. I can't save you now.”

“I'll save myself, thanks.”

“You don't even know what you're up against.”

“Yes, I do. Now leave me alone, I want to bury Shawn.”

“Ruby—”

“Go. Please.”

He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more. But then he closed his mouth over whatever he was going to tell her and turned toward Cottingley, leaving Ruby alone with Shawn's lifeless body.

Ruby shivered. The temperature took a decided drop when Tam left, and the tiny designer dress she'd been wearing since he put the
glamour
on her didn't offer much protection.

The wind ruffled Shawn's hair, the only thing moving on his still body. She stared down at him. How did everything get so out of control?

She remembered flashes of light and color. She remembered the taste of honey and the feel of Tam's arms around her. Suddenly, everything had seemed so
funny
. She'd felt light on her feet and brimming with confidence. Like everything in the world was her property, put on the earth just to give her pleasure, and nothing could ever ruin it for long.

It's ruined now. Thank God.

She moved a few feet away and found a patch of ground that wasn't very rocky. Holding back sobs, she grabbed a stick and started to chip away at the sod, but the packed earth was like cement and the stick broke after a few tries.

“Damn it!” She flung the broken ends into the night. Then she pounded the ground with her fists. Couldn't she do anything right? The least she could do was give Shawn a decent burial instead of leaving his body for the crows pick at, and she couldn't even fucking do that.

“I'm sorry, Shawn,” she said to his lifeless corpse. “I should have stopped them. But I didn't. It's my fault this happened to you.”

Shawn's silence was damning. She bowed her head and wiped at her tears, feeling the grit of dirt smudge her cheeks.

After a long moment huddled in misery, the unmistakable sound of footsteps over the grass made her lift her head. “Aryenis?”

She was walking out of the woods toward Ruby, a shimmering cloak hanging over one arm. She wore a simple shift and sandals that looked handcrafted—certainly a long way from the designer pieces the other fairies liked. When she reached the tree, she gazed with deep sadness at Shawn. Then she gently draped the material next to his body and Ruby realized she wasn't carrying a cloak at all. It was a shroud.

Aryenis motioned to Ruby to help her wrap it around Shawn's body. Together they managed to roll his limp figure onto the sheet, and then Aryenis expertly began tying the ends over his still face and motionless hands. Once Shawn had been completely covered, she pointed to the thicket of trees, then motioned for Ruby to pick up Shawn's feet.

“What are we going to do with him?” Ruby asked.

Aryenis pointed to the woods again, this time more emphatically. Then she took his shoulders and lifted while Ruby picked up his feet, and together they carried Shawn into the shadowy woods. For a second Ruby wondered if Aryenis was going to tell her to dump his body there, but then the trees thinned and they came to a clearing.

“Oh my God,” Ruby moaned.

Mounds of dirt, some marked with crude headstones, filled the clearing. They lay side by side, each heap about the length of a body.

Ruby was sickened to her core. “Are these the graves of other humans?”

Aryenis nodded and motioned for her to lay Shawn down next to the freshest grave, one that looked only a couple months old. Altogether there must have been over fifty burial mounds, and beyond the clearing, a narrow path led to the shadowy outlines of even more. How many humans had died in the fairies' cruel games over the years? Would this be her eventual resting place after Violet was done with her?

“Cottingley is completely evil.” She shuddered, rubbing her arms. She couldn't believe she let Tam seduce her into thinking she could live here. Evidence of the price she'd pay was all around her.

Aryenis broke into her dark thoughts by handing her a shovel. It seemed the graveyard came conveniently stocked with the proper tools. Together they dug a shallow hole out of the loamy forest floor.

“Why are you helping me?” Ruby asked after they'd dug a grave deep enough and laid Shawn's shrouded body inside it.

Aryenis didn't acknowledge her question. Instead she began shoveling dirt on top of Shawn's body.

Ruby steeled herself to do the same, spearing the clots to cover Shawn. Shovelful by shovelful, he disappeared under a layer of earth.

After they were through, Aryenis bowed her head over the fresh grave. Ruby did the same. The image of Shawn's confused face when she'd given him that ride home from Cottingley seared her mind. More memories were coming back: Shelley standing in front of the Garcias' house, watching her drive away; Mom's pale face as she was wheeled into the Emergency Room; Aryenis drawing pictures on a napkin.

Ruby's breath caught. Aryenis had been trying to tell her something back then, hadn't she? And how long ago had that been? She put her hand in the dress's pocket and her fingers touched two pieces of paper. She pulled out the crumpled napkin…and the page from the fairy tale book. It seemed like she'd torn out the story of the Ruby Red necklace a lifetime ago. She touched the page gently.

Shelley. Mom
.

She put her hand in the other pocket and grazed the round shape of her cheapie cell phone. She took it out and flicked it open. It had been turned off. She held down the power button to turn it back on, but it seemed to take an eternity for the LCD screen to light up. When it finally did, it showed zero bars. No cell service in the woods. She ground her teeth in frustration. Couldn't she ever catch a break?

Still, at least the date on the screen told Ruby how long she'd been here. It was a Tuesday, about two weeks after she'd first arrived at Cottingley. Guilt pierced her. She had left Shelley alone, promising to call soon, and disappeared for two whole weeks.

She'd make it right. She had to.

She returned her attention to the napkin. By the weak dawn light beginning to filter through the trees, Ruby made out the symbols Aryenis had drawn: a flower, a crown, lips, and a stick figure holding out something in its hands. Like it was giving a gift, maybe?

“Hey, Aryenis, what did you mean by—”

But she was already walking out of the graveyard. “Wait!” Ruby called after her.

Aryenis didn't pause.

“I…I have something to give you!” Ruby yelled in desperation.

Aryenis halted. Over her shoulder she sent Ruby a questioning look.

Ruby swallowed. The only thing she could offer Aryenis was the page she'd torn out of Shelley's storybook. But it was also all she had left of her family, and the thought of giving it away hurt so much she almost couldn't breathe.

She held the page out. “For you,” she said, blinking back a sudden rush of tears.

Aryenis studied her face for a long moment. Despair filled Ruby as the moment stretched out—her hunch wasn't going to pay off after all. Then Aryenis stepped forward and took the paper. Ruby's mouth fell open when she said, in a lilting accent, “I accept your gift of the heart. Thank you.”

“You—you're welcome.” Ruby mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that her sacrifice would pay off. “You have a beautiful voice,” she added.

She was rewarded when a slight smile lifted Aryenis' lips. She beckoned Ruby. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

Ruby gave Shawn's grave one last look. Then she hurried behind Aryenis, who had started to disappear into the trees. The fairy lead her deeper into the forest until they came upon another clearing.
Please don't let it be more graves
, Ruby prayed.

She gasped, but this time in amazement. Shimmering flowers filled the glen, a beautiful garden in the heart of the forest, lush with many different species. There were roses of every color: blood red, lavender, flaming orange, pure white. Exotic purple blossoms that looked like trumpets. Delicate lilies next to puffy peonies. Ruby recognized some of the blooms; she'd seen the fairies destroy them during that stupid forfeit game.

“Did you grow these?” Ruby asked. “No wonder you were so upset that day.” She stroked the petals of an exquisite poppy glistening with dew, and inhaled the fragrance. “Your flowers are breathtaking.”

“Thank you,” Aryenis answered with a gracious nod. She gestured to a circular patch of velvety grass, right smack in the middle of the garden. “Please, sit.”

Ruby lowered herself to the ground, cross-legged where Aryenis indicated, then waited as patiently as she could when Aryenis sat as well.

“You wish to know about us,” Aryenis began.

“Yes, please. If you don't mind,” she added hastily. She felt on edge and so desperate for answers she could scream, but she didn't want to make Aryenis decide to stop talking again.

“I will tell you what I can,” Aryenis said. “Maybe it will help you in what you desire to achieve. Before we
fae
came to Cottingley, long ago now, I was
garraíodóir máistir
—master gardener to
an Bhanríon,
the Queen.”

“The Queen?”

“Yes, the Queen of all
fae
. I was in charge of the gardens that surround her palace in the Old Country.”

“That sounds really important.”

Aryenis nodded regally. “We
fae
love flowers—they are life-givers, and inspire our magic. I was held in great esteem by the Court, and I served well for many centuries.” Ruby saw tears glimmer in Aryenis's eyes, and the fairy bowed her head. “But I grew proud. I began to resent that the fruits of my labors were only to be used by the Queen and her Court favorites to strengthen their magic. So I left. But before I did, I stole seeds from the Court gardens, for the flowers you see here.”

She swept her arm, and Ruby's breath caught as the flowers swayed and rustled in response.

“The Queen was enraged, rightly so. The nectar from my flowers is so powerful it should only be used under the strict eye of the Court. When I became
garraíodóir máistir
I had taken many oaths to protect the gardens from defilement—with my life, if need be. When I left with the stolen seeds, I became an oath-breaker. It is one of the worst crimes we
fae
can commit.”

Worse than murder?
Ruby thought, but the memory had made Aryenis upset. The tears were running freely down her face.

“In punishment,” Aryenis said, “the Queen cursed me to only speak the truth—a heavy punishment, because we
fae
take great pleasure in deceptions.”

“No shit,” Ruby muttered.

“Because I cannot lie, I will not speak to the others, but only speak to someone who is unselfish and honest. You proved yourself by giving me a gift of the heart, the only thing you have of your beloved sister. And so I speak to you and gift you with the truth.”

“
Oh…
” Ruby realized the meaning of the drawing now: the flower meant the seeds Aryenis had stolen, and the crown symbolized the Queen, and Aryenis's curse was represented in the lips. The stick figure giving the gift was the final piece of the puzzle.

Aryenis heaved a deep sigh. “I regret leaving the Old Country to live with these young fools. They have no restraint, no balance, no wisdom.”

Young fools? Aryenis looked the same age as everyone else at Cottingley—around 16 or 17 years old—but she remembered how Ash described being more than 60 as still very young. “How old are you?” she asked.

Aryenis cocked her head and pondered. “I tended the gardens of the Temple of Isis for the Pharaohs before I came to serve
an Bhanríon.
How old is that?”

For the Pharaohs? In, like, Ancient Egypt? “Um, really old.”

“The Queen was right to curse me,” Aryenis went on. “I deserved to follow the rebels to this terrible New World outpost.”

Rebels? Outpost? What did Aryenis mean now? She spoke as if The Hamptons was a backwoods colony. Or, Ruby realized, maybe when Aryenis got here, it was.

“You gave me your gift of the heart, Ruby Benson. Now I will give you three pieces of wisdom. Once I have done so, I will speak no more. So listen well.”

Ruby nodded.

Aryenis held up three fingers and ticked them down as she spoke. “One: if you play Violet's game and win, Violet will be compelled to do as she promises. It is an immutable law of magic. But she will try to trick you into giving up this right.”

Ruby nodded. “Violet can't go back on her deal, but she'll try to bullshit her way out of it. Got it.”

“Two: the sweet nectar you drank is from the Court flowers. It may already be too late, but you must not drink any more.”

Ruby was mystified. “Nectar? You mean the stuff Tam put in my coffee? That's nectar?”

“Do you understand?” Aryenis asked impatiently.

Just thinking about the delicious syrup was enough to make Ruby long for another cupful. But she nodded. “Yes.”

“Third, Tam and I are not the same as the fools at Cottingley. We are from the Old Country, where the
fae
are much wiser—and feel deeply.”

That's all well and good,
Ruby thought,
but we're not in the Old Country
—
we're here at Cottingley, where the fairies are heartless assholes.

Aryenis had ticked down the third finger. She curled her hand into a fist and put it against her mouth. Ruby understood. Aryenis was done talking, maybe forever.

Ruby stood. The whole situation was nightmarish, like the darkest tales in Shelley's book—‘Jack and the Beanstalk' or ‘Rumpelstiltskin,' where the human had to beat the magical creature at its own game or suffer a gruesome fate. Ruby now wondered if those stories weren't stories at all.

So it could be done. Maybe she was being delusional, but for the first time since she woke from the Slumber, Ruby felt a sense of hope. All she had to do was beat Violet at her own game. Of course, that might prove impossible, because Violet was a vicious bitch who wouldn't take any chances. Still, she was going to try.

“Thank you, Aryenis. I won't forget your help.”

As expected, Aryenis did not reply. But she gave a sad smile in response.