Tracy bent over quietly, slipping his hand beneath the child's pillow and groping for the tooth. Had to be there somewhere, he thought irritably. This was his last assignment for the day, and then he could go home to Rae. He smiled softly at the thought.
He had been a Tooth Fairy for a little more than a decade, and had quickly proved himself to be quite capable, despite what many had thought about wingless fairies in his line of work. He'd proved them wrong, though, and was now the leader of his collection team.
Tracy frowned and found that he was elbow-deep in the pillow, searching for the tooth. His fingers brushed something, and he tugged, withdrawing his arm and taking with him a thin slip of paper. He stood straight, squinting down at it, trying to make out the dark graphite letters in the dim light of the child's bedroom.
His lips traced the words as he read, "Don't move… and you won't… be…"
His eyes widened and he spun around, seeing a figure in the dark, a small, younger woman, who froze with a fistful of salt, and he cried out, waking the boy – who ran from the room – and rushing towards the mother, who jerked back, throwing what was left of the salt in her hand directly at his face; the fairy reared back, throwing his hands up to shield his face and feeling his palms burn upon contact. He staggered back, contained by a circle of salt that extended far past the boy's bed, arcing around him, unbroken in any single place that he could use to escape.
He turned back towards the mother, watching patiently as she raised another fistful of table salt, feeling relief wash through him at the discovery of what she was using. Common table salt wasn't all too dangerous. It could leave a nasty scar if left in contact with his skin too long, but it wasn't nearly as lethal as some other compounds.
"Hello,"Tracy said gently, smiling down at the wide-eyed woman on the outside of the circle. "I'm the Tooth Fairy."
She didn't move from her spot, but raised a small black device to her lips. "Subject appears to be upwards of six feet, humanoid male in appearance. Wingless, though he calls himself the Tooth Fairy," she whispered harshly.
"Not all fairies have wings," he explained, though he knew she hadn't been talking to him. Seemed to be taking notes, which he found a bit odd, but who could tell with humans?
"Speaks modern English." She noted. "The time is three twenty two AM in Westport, Connecticut, and subject is contained in my son's bedroom by a ring of table salt, which seems to have enough of an effect on him."
Tracy bent over slightly. "Sorry?" he asked. "Sorry, could have sworn, just for a moment, that is sounded like I was being taken… captive?" He was not met with an answer. "Lady?"
The woman straightened, placing the small recording device back into her pants pocket. "You will refer to me as Ma'am or Doctor Geter. When a containment squad arrives, you are not to put up a fight, or else they will be forced to take you by any means necessary. Do you understand?"
Tracy was horrified and enraged all at once, bringing himself up to his full height, shoulders pushed back. "Sure, I understand. That doesn't mean I'm going to let any human take me anywhere. I just came for the tooth, ma'am. Since that doesn't seem to be on your agenda, I'll be on my way."
Tracy willed himself to leave The Human Plane, feeling the magic inherently in his body give a jump start, snapping between the bedroom and the lobby of Fairy, but never making the connection. He fell backwards, heavily, onto the young boy's bed, light headed, losing track of himself for a few minutes as he tried to work out what had happened. He stood, supporting himself against the wall.
It was the salt, it had to be. The ring was preventing any magic from entering or exiting the field, and this meant that he was unable to teleport, unable to go back to the safety of Fairy Land.
Soon, a black gloved hand clamped over his mouth, pulling his head back forcefully, causing him to cry out in pain as he lost balance, toppling backwards. Immediately upon impact, he felt at least two more people throw themselves on top of him, and fear ripped through his chest as he struggled, trying to pull his limbs from the humans' grasps. He tugged and thrashed, trying to break free so that he could muscle past the circle, which inhibited his magic, and transport himself back to Fairy Land, back to safety and back to Rae.
The gloved hand never budged, keeping him from crying out, impairing his breathing and his movements slowed. None of his attackers spoke a word, staying stock still as they restrained him. Eventually, his movements stopped all together, his head falling back and he whimpered, submitting. One brute shifted, and took something from his belt. There was s sharp pain in his side, the prick of a syringe. He tried to shift away from it, but all too late. The fear in his chest died, his mind clouded by whatever they'd injected him with – a common sedative, no doubt, he thought wearily. He let out another pitiful noise, a muffled plea for his wife, before the drug coursing through his veins blanketed him in a half sleep. He was aware, he felt them lift him from the small bed and carry him off. As he felt the night air, cold against the perspiration on his skin, he slipped under, one last pang of fear shooting though him before he lost consciousness.
Tracy woke, lying flat on his back on the floor. His breathing came in ragged gasps, his cheeks wet and he pawed gently at his eyes, sitting up; everything was blurry, and he had to squint to see his surroundings. The room was small – five meters squared, though he had no way of telling. It was bare save for a cot that was set in the middle. The man staggered to his feet, going towards the nearest wall to brace himself against. He took two steps, hand outstretched to meet the wall and howled in pain, stumbling backwards and falling to the concrete floor with a hard thud. He stared blankly at his hand, watching the skin of his palm bubble and blister. He cursed loudly, closing his palm and seeing pops of light as the pain in his hand came to a crescendo. He couldn't see much of anything properly, but there was no mistaking the acrid burning smell of salt and iron. He moved away from the spot, squinting at it suspiciously.
These people, whoever they were, knew too much about fairies, too much about how to subdue magic, for him to feel safe. He sniffled lightly, watching as someone entered the room, closing the thick cement door behind him. He simply stood there, staring down at the clipboard. Tracy wanted to approach the man, but had a dreading suspicion that he was encircled by that awful concoction that, given the right planning and execution, could kill a fairy with as little as one teaspoon. He silently prayed that whatever their intentions with him were, that they were ignorant of the various ways to sap the magic from his body. His heart raced at the thought as he called to the man. "I have to go home. I don't… I don't belong here, I just… Please! I just want to go home, I want to go back to my wife—"
The man looked up. "You're married?" he asked, eyeing the fairy curiously.
Tracy felt the anger boiling in his blood. "Of course I am, what'd you think the ring—" he stopped again, having reached down to cradle the silver band, only to feel bare skin. He stared blankly at the spot it had once been. He rounded on the man, shooting forward and feeling that same burning sensation course through his body before he moved backwards, into the protection of the circle.
The man seemed unfazed, but took note of Tracy's little outburst. "I'm sorry, but metal is not allowed inside containment cells. We've lost too many specimens that way."
"Please, mate. S'my wedding ring." He reasoned, but the man merely shook his head, dismissing notion. The captive fumed, feeling sick and sitting down on the cot, his head in his hands. "I just want to go home," he said flatly. "Haven't done anything wrong. I'm a Tooth Fairy, I was just doing my job. Haven't hurt anyone, have I?"
"It's not that you've done anything wrong," the main said thoughtfully, scribbling something onto the clip board. "No. But out knowledge of your species is severely lacking. Your kind doesn't belong with us, in out homes and around our children. Someone has to control you." He said and walked off, leaving Tracy alone again.
The cold realization settled over him. This was why fairies thought humans were monsters. He was being held here because he was a fairy, because he wasn't human. He sunk down into the cot, feeling a hole gnawing at his chest. A small part of him refused to believe that this was happening. He looked around the room, hoping for something, anything that would be a means of escape. The walls, even if he had been able to reach them, were bare, the cinder blocks sealed tightly with mortar.
Tracy was left to ponder how everything had turned so sour so quickly. Just yesterday, he'd kissed his wife goodbye as they parted ways at work – he'd told her that they'd be going out later, when he got home, but now there was little chance that he'd ever see her again.
