Fae, faerie, fairy, nymph, alien, angel. Those are the names that my kind has given themselves over the centuries. We're a dying breed, our numbers dwindling each year. We're a main target for the vampires, so when one of us dies, vampires are usually the ones to get to get the blame. However, if I'm going to be completely honest, it's not the vampires we need to be worried about. It's the other fae. The Queen, in fact, is the one that killed both of my parents; my mother by poison, my father by iron.
I didn't know this with the royal bitch brought be back to Faery for "mentoring," I am ashamed of myself that I went so willingly. I was so naïve then.
I should have known what was coming, since I wasn't punished for my treachery. We went undetected for so long and to this day, I still don't know how she found my father and me. Immediately, I was put into classes in Faery. We were trained to kill vampires, and my courses were sending me towards a Guardian Angel. (Or Guardian. The Angel part of that makes us sound weak, even though we're anything but). My days were split; I followed the Queen around in the mornings, then in the heat of the day we had training.
Other faeries harassed me about being on Earth for so long. I had missed 11 years of combat training, but I was stronger and faster than most of them so it was easy for me to keep up. One day in particular, a group of fae girls really had it out for me. For two hours I listened to them talk about me. "Nothing but a filthy human wannabe," they'd say over and over. I'd roll my eyes, laugh it off. It wasn't until one of them looked me in the eyes and said, ". . . and her father deserved everything he got." That was when I lost it.
I hadn't shifted since I got to Faery. My father told me the power that I had was unique and to only use it when I needed it. He allowed me to shift on full moons and run with the Weres in the town we were in at the time. Even though I wasn't a Were at all, the Shreveport pack did business with my father and were more than happy to accommodate me into their monthly runs. In Faery, there are no full moons. I didn't have the urge to shift like I did on Earth, but when I got pissed off, I'd begin to shake.
Which is exactly what happened. I marched over to the little blonde bitch and slapped her, my body radiating off the heat. It happened so fast, I don't think I could have stopped it even if I tried. The gray and white hair that made up my coat exploded out of my skin, ripping my clothes to shreds. I was on all fours, my teeth bared, and all the faeries started to run. I noticed a figure standing in the window of the Queen's Castle. It was her, and she was smiling.
Guardians were on me faster than you could say, "Oh look, we've got a werewolf." It took six of them to finally pin me to the ground. They tried using their light on me, but since I was a full-fledged fae, it didn't do what they had wanted it to. I was taken to the castle and thrown in a jail cell. The whole thing was welded in iron. I started feeling it effects immediately. If I would touch it, it would burn my skin. The guardians wore gloves to protect them, but I had nothing. I felt like I had a weight on my chest and I couldn't breathe. Once the guardians left, the Queen made her way down to see me.
"Interesting," she said. "We had you training to be a guardian, but maybe I was wrong. You would be much more useful doing something else." The smile the formed on her lips scared me. I had my knees brought up to my bare chest and had my arms around them. I stayed silent. "We need more faeries. Not half breeds; full bloods. We aren't strong enough with the powers that we have. But with something like THAT," she was shaking with excitement, "we would have a better chance of survival." She walked the perimeter of the room, the tips of her fingers brushing against the iron bars. I could hear the skin burning, but she didn't even flinch. I felt sick. "I'll have a guardian bring you something. You will start your new purpose tomorrow."
An hour or so after the Queen left, I was thrown an oversized white shirt. I pulled it on over my head and slept on the cold ground that night. I wanted nothing more than to leave, but I knew in the back of my mind that leaving was a dream. I thought losing my father was the worst thing to ever happen to me, but I later find out that I couldn't have been more wrong.
I woke the next morning with guardians waiting in front of my cell. The look of pity on their faces told me that what was going to happen wasn't going to be good. I stood, holding out my arms. They proceeded to put stainless steel cuffs on my wrists. I was taken to a room that oddly looked like a medical exam room you would find in the human world. There was a mirror, which I guessed was actually a window, so others could watch what was going to happen in here. I kept my face blank; I couldn't let them know how scared I actually was. One of the guardians gestured to the table, "You need to sit here," he said. I did and the other guardian pinned my shoulders to the table, while the other put my wrists above my head, chaining them to the wall. "Fuck," I thought. I closed my eyes, waiting for something to happen.
The sound of the door made me open them. I looked into the cold eyes of the Queen, a smirk on her lips. "Do you know why you're here?" she asked me. She held her head high, proud of herself. I remained silent; I didn't move, didn't speak. "Very well," she said. She looked to the mirror and waved for someone to come in. I was right. The door opened once more and a faerie man came in. He was older and someone I had seen walking around Faery near the castle. He was one of the Queen's guardians. "You know what to do," the Queen said coldly. She left the room without look at me again. When the door slammed, it echoed in the room.
I was shaking as the man approached me with a wicked grin on his face. He placed his hands on my knees, spreading my legs. I began to scream, tears involuntarily rolling down my face as I kicked at him. I began to shift into the wolf and in that moment, another guardian came in and stabbed a syringe in my arm. In seconds, I was out cold.
I woke in my cell later in the day. I didn't know how long I had been asleep, but my whole body ached. In the dim light of my cell, I was able to see that I was covered in blood. I was exhausted, my mind was foggy. It took me awhile to realize that the blood that coated my body was my own. I began to shake, my hands trembling as they moved to lift the hem of the shirt. The insides of my legs were bruised, my ribs were as well. I won't go into detail on what else I found, just know that what I saw next made me vomit.
The days that followed consisted of the same routine. Guardians would come in, give me a sedative; I'd wake in my cell covered in fresh blood. My body was weakening by the day. Even though I wasn't awake for the actual act, I still had nightmares about it. I stayed awake at night, only sleeping when the needle was injected into my arm. After the eighth day, I was allowed to shower. The water that ran off my body was red, but still it felt so nice to be clean again. After my shower, they fed me, pumped my body with fluids through an IV, and I was able to drink.
When they brought me back to my cell, one of our healers was there waiting for me. An alarmed looked appeared on her face when she saw me, but she didn't say anything about my condition. Faithful to the Queen, I guess. There was a chair beside her, a table too covered in needles and medicine bottles. She asked for my arm and I gave it. Bringing a vein to the surface, she poked a needle in it and took several vials of my blood. "We're testing for a pregnancy." I raised my eyebrows but remained silent. I knew in my mind what they were doing to me, breeding me to increase our numbers. But until now, no one had ever said it out loud. "Pregnancy," the word bounced around in my mind. I was only 17; it wasn't supposed to happen this way. Babies were for people that wanted them and were ready. They were breeding me like a dog and I was so disgusted, I wanted to puke on her. Maybe I was pregnant after all.
After a few minutes of shaking a vial of my blood, the healer sighed and shook her head. "I don't understand," she said. She looked up at one of the guardians, "Tell the Queen it's negative. You're going to have to do something else. It's no wonder, with the way this poor girl is being treated. When was the last time she ate?" Before anyone could answer, her eyes locked on mine. "When was the last time you ate?" She asked me.
"Today," I choked out. "Only today."
Her face turned a strange red color. She stood and stomped out of the room. A guardian quickly took her supplies and followed her, leaving me alone in my cell.
My body was mine alone for the three days that followed. No one came in, not even for food. I couldn't sleep; every time I closed my eyes, I saw the Queen standing over me as some strange man took me. I was a virgin before this, and I was devastated that this is the way I lost my virginity. When someone did enter, it was a guardian. The same one that brought me here the very first day. She wouldn't meet my eyes. Maybe she was guilty? I didn't know, and frankly, I didn't care. For the first time, I had wanted to die. I had never wanted anything more in my entire life. The rape sessions were a cake walk compared to what happened to me next. At least for that, I was unconscious.
The guardians didn't bother cuffing me anymore. I was led into another medical exam room, a man who I had never seen before was dressed as a human doctor. I laughed.
"What's so funny?" he asked. I shook my head and he gestured to the table. I sat willingly. Maybe he would be the one to kill me after all. He looked me in my eyes before he spoke again. "Why aren't you pregnant by now?" He asked me, as if I had a say in the matter. "That is the question," he turned on his heal, sliding a table over to the bed. "Restrain her," he said to the guardians. Simultaneously, four of them were on top of me, strapping my arms and legs down to the bed. One of them put a gag in my mouth so I would stay silent. They placed a heart monitor on my chest and right away I could hear the beeping on a nearby screen. My arm was injected with a golden serum, the faerie smirked. "This is so you won't shift on me. It's a blocker that stays in your blood for 72 hours. You can kiss your wolf days goodbye."
72 hours, that's all I needed to suffer. 72 more hours of life, then it will be over. I couldn't be more thankful. For the first time in days, I felt a sense of peace.
It was short lived, however. Minutes later, a piercing pain shot through my lower abdomen. I began to scream, the pain was unbearable. I prayed to God that I would black out, but that relief never came. I'm not sure how long it lasted, it felt like forever. I fought against the restraints on my wrists, fought against the gag in my mouth. I couldn't escape the pain. The man smiled as he performed his work, however the sheet between my head and the lower half of my body prevented me from seeing anything. I screamed until I could no longer make sound and eventually I went numb. I lay lifeless on the table, my eyes staring blankly at the door. "Everything's there," the doctor would say, "There is no reason why she's not carrying a child. Let's try this," I didn't notice the IV in my arm until he injected a blue serum into it. I felt it warm my body, but after a few seconds my heart began to race. I thought it would burst out my chest. My heart flat lined and I thanked God for this moment. Soon, I would be free.
"You killed her, you fool!" I heard the yelling. I could feel the EKG off my chest, the monitor was silent. I didn't know how many minutes had passed, but it was long enough for them to give up hope. The Queen was in here now and she was pissed. "I needed you to make sure the reproductive tract was intact, to ensure a line by her, and YOU KILLED HER!"
"My Q-Queen," his voice was trembling. Good, he was scared too. "Forgive me, it was an accident; simply, and accident. Her body couldn't take it."
"Then why didn't you put her under? There was no reason why you did it while she was awake. What was the cause of death?"
"Heart attack," he said. He sounded defeated.
"Which could have been prevented!" She must have hit something because the sound of glass breaking soon followed her voice. With a heavy sigh she said, "Burn the body. No one must hear of this." I heard her footsteps fade away, then the sound of a door closing.
The faerie doctor sat in silence for a moment before cleaning up his tools. Water running indicated he was cleaning them. I was fading in an out and can't really remember what happened next. But when my mind was brought to attention again, the healer was back, talking with the doctor.
"Let me take her," she said. "I'll bury her with her parents. It's the least we could do after everything that's happened." I didn't hear a response, but soon a sheet was draped over my body and I was wheeled out of the room on the bed. My limbs were still restrained, but the gag was removed from my mouth.
What happened after was unexpected: we teleported. The healer was shouting, "Help! I need help in here!" We were swarmed by people, but I still couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. The healer spoke again, "This is the girl I told you about. I tried to get to her sooner, but the guardians prevented me from getting in."
"Just in time," said another woman. She was older, and from the location her voice was coming from, I could tell she was short. Her mouth was below my ear. "We need to move her to surgery. Your faerie doctor sure did a number on her. Now!" She yelled, and I was being moved again. Multiple feet ran beside the bed, and I believe someone was holding my hand. Someone was whispering, "Oh God," repeatedly, another person was crying. I felt a cool sensation run through my body, I'm guessing another sedative because within seconds, I was unconscious.
"Vitals are back to normal, Dr. Ludwig," an unfamiliar voice said. "Looks like she'll make a full recovery."
"Don't give me any of that extra crap, I just asked for her vitals. After you tell me that, you leave. Got it?"
"Yes," said an embarrassed voice.
"Now, I'm going to give her something to counteract the sedative. She should wake in the next few minutes."
Moments later, I could feel my heart began to race again. My eyes fly open and I throw both of my hands over my chest, gasping for air. "Calm down," said Dr. Ludwig, I'm guessing. She was short, looking to be in her late fifties. Her voice was raspy but strong. She put her hand on my shoulder and pushed me back into the bed. "Welcome back, Sophia."
"Sophie," I choked out. My throat hurt, I'm guessing from screaming.
"Sophia," she said, "you were very close to dying. You flat lined in Faery, and we lost you twice here. You're very lucky to be alive."
I stared at her, wide-eyed. I wanted to know why she even wasted the time saving me.
"You're staying here for a few days until you get your strength back. I've made contact with one of your father's benefactors and he is going to be picking you up at the end of the week."
I nodded, my eyes never leaving hers.
Dr. Ludwig nods and steps out of the room.
