Charlaine Harris owns all these characters, I own nothing, nada, zip, zero

A/N Yes! I am still alive and doing the job hunt trudge, unfortunately. I've been making more of an effort to work on my writing this past month. I'm almost done with the next chapter of God of War and have been poking at Nesting Instincts as well.

This short story has been owed big time to the runner up winner of my little contest last Fall, Ilovemysteries. She's been such a sweetie and so patient. It was originally going to be a oneshot, but i decided it would pace better as a 2 or 3 chapter short.

Thank you to those who've sent encouraging pm's. It means a lot to me. Thank you my wonderful patient readers. I hope you enjoy this little bit of the absurd.

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Until you've been through the experience of being kidnapped, held, and tortured there is truly no way for you to know or understand how the victim feels. Over the years, I had watched reports on 60 Minutes and shows on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel about people in other countries who had undergone horrible things. I had sat there with a dim notion of horror and sympathy. But I really hadn't understood. And even if you manage to get past it, stop having nightmares, go on with your life…..it marks you like a brand. Something permanent has been done to you and it will forever impact how you react to situations from that point forward. I guess that's the only explanation I can give for what happened.

I don't know how he got in. Amelia may be impulsive, a blabber mouth both in speech and in her brain, and terrible at conserving electricity, but up until now, her wards had been topnotch. Even my fairy prince great grandfather Niall had commented on their power. So, I figured, when I was in the house, I had the right to really relax, RELAX you know? Queen of my modest, clean, if somewhat shabby castle was I.

He was beautiful, the way all fairies are, but in a generic, browned haired sort of way. Amelia had managed to hit him in the face with an old stoneware bowl I was mixing coleslaw in. The two of us raced up the stairs together, shrieking like girls I'm sorry to say. By the time he made it to the stairs, with cabbage dripping off his pretty head, we had already closed and locked the door to her "sitting room" she'd set up there. I was shaking and trying to dial 911 on my cell phone, but then it occurred to me that the police wouldn't be able to do anything. I'd just be leading them to their deaths as well. It was still daylight, so vampire help was out. My brother was at work, and since he'd been in so much hot water lately with his boss, he wouldn't answer his cell. What were we going to do?

THUMP!

He'd started trying to knock down the door. Thank goodness, my house had old fashioned, heavy solid wood doors, not those cheap cardboard, plastic type ones you see in new construction.

THUMP!

I couldn't call Niall because he'd shut himself and most of the fae into their secret world, never to be seen or heard from again supposedly. I guess this guy had been locked out and maybe wasn't thrilled about it.

THUMP!

As I frantically looked around the room for something to use as a weapon, I cried," Amelia! What are we going to do? Do you have any spells for fae?" Why had I never asked about this before?

THUMP!

"Wait a minute," she said.

THUMP!

"We don't have a minute!" I yelled back.

THUMP!

I guess my fairy intruder hadn't considered he might have to fight his way through a heavy, solid wood door. If he had, he might have stopped at the Home Depot in Monroe and bought an axe first.

THUMP!

Amelia crouched down in front of the yard sale dresser she'd painted. The bottom drawer was pulled all the way out and lying on the floor. She lifted out a clear Rubbermaid tote and ripped off the lid.

THUMP!

I leaned over her. There were a bunch of little Ziploc baggies neatly lined up in open baskets. They had various labels, which I mostly couldn't read because they were in what I think was Latin. A couple words I could read though: vampire, fairy, werewolf. She grabbed one labeled fairy.

THUMP! RIP!

Uh oh, he was getting through the door now. He'd managed to find a weak board and knocked it out. His hand started forcing its way through the narrow opening.

THUMP! RIP! BANG!

A couple boards hit the floor. I grabbed a skinny table lamp that wasn't going to do much, but I'll be damned if I was going to just stand there and let this guy kill me. I'd survived too much already dammit. I had no idea what was about to happen. I just hoped Amelia's magic was strong enough to take this guy out. And I hoped that she had labeled the baggie right and it wasn't herbs for a delicious, tomato sauce to put on spaghetti. I hoped for a lot of things.

THUMP! BANG!

This guy was focused. He wasn't bothering with yelling insults, or calling us worthless humans or anything else. He was totally quiet as he bashed in the door.

Click.

The latch was turned and in he came drawing a dagger as he did so.

For a second, I froze, my eyes fixated on the dagger. I was back in that molded little house in Arkansas. Thing One had pulled out a knife to use on me as Thing Two laughed with her long, silver tipped teeth.

Then, I unfroze.

I had been drinking a lot of Eric's blood for my healing. Eric's blood is powerful stuff. So, it's understandable this guy wasn't expecting me to move as fast as I did.

THWACK!

I swung my skinny lamp and knocked the dagger clean out of his hand. Momentary shock filled his beautiful face. Now, what I should have done next was jump back, grab a chair to hold him at bay while Amelia did her thing.

Remember what I said about a permanent mark? I am SO SICK of being afraid and people who don't even know me coming around to do bad things to me. I guess this is my best explanation. Something broke inside me, or perhaps exploded would be a better word.

I went total bat shit crazy on his ass.

It was like I was taking every bad thing that had ever been done to me out on this fairy.

If this had been a movie, it would have been funny. Instead of pulling away from him, which is what he expected me to do, I grabbed one of his pointy ears, scratched his eyes, and screamed like a banshee. And then, for some reason, I leaned in and started biting him, on the face. I hang around with vampires way too much. I guess getting bitten in the face and having your eyes gouged out really hurts, because he was yelling and trying to pull me off, beating on my back. He spun around trying to throw me off, but I clung to him like a deranged spider monkey. Amelia danced around us with her little baggie, like she was trying to get a clean shot.

"Do it!" I yelled, when I yanked my teeth clear from his face, then went for his neck.

"But!"

"DO It! DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!"

I heard her yelling in Latin, in a powerful voice, not her normal speaking voice, but the voice that channeled forces I would never understand.

There was a rain of herbs that came down on me and the fairy. I could smell lemon and maybe sage, everything else was unknown to me. The fairy screamed as the lemon particles (zest maybe?) hit his coleslawed face.

Then he froze, his eyes wide in shock and horror.

A silence seemed to surround us. I could still hear Amelia chanting, but it was like she was at the end of a long tunnel and slightly muffled.

He and I let go of each other or maybe we were pulled away from each other by the magical forces Amelia was utilizing.

He was being pulled away? Or retreating? He got smaller and smaller, or was I being pulled in too?

"Amelia!" I called out, but my voice sounded small, so small.

The fairy disappeared from my sight, then all the light around me seemed to bend and shake. If light can be said to gradually get "fuzzy" then that's what it was doing. Where was I? Was I alone?

Everything went gray and soft.

"Amelia!" I called out again, but my voice was muffled and no one seemed to hear me.

TBC