Disclaimer: Wicked Lovely is too dark and awesome for me to come up with it.
The lone wall clock ticked the last seconds of the day, moving slower as it travelled uphill to the Roman numeral twelve. The kids were working on their homework—Donia thought it would be a nice gift to give them some time in class for it—so she just kept to herself, reading Light in August, which was hidden safely under the confines of her desk. She could very well lose her job if someone caught her with this book, being the victim of countless book burnings across the country. Her folks would not be happy at all if she came home with a notice like that, and after her first week, too. But Donia believed that the banned books were the best ones of all, the ones that deserved the most attention and praise. They were the forefront of a new revolution.
Donia heard stirring in the students. She glanced up, seeing that they were all preparing for their treks—some much longer than others—home. She looked at the clock just as the last second slipped by.
Brrring!
"Have a nice weekend!" Donia called as cheerfully as she could. Some of the students were considerate enough to smile and wish her a good weekend as well, but most paid her no attention as they rushed out the door in a sudden burst of energy, as if brought back to life from the deathly bore of school. She didn't blame them, though. It was a Friday afternoon; the sun was shining brightly through the windows, tempting the children with their warm rays that hinted at what was outside—soft green grass, clear blue skies, and the glorious smell of the last days of summer. Let them enjoy it while it lasts—they've got a long six months ahead of them.
She began cleaning the chalkboards behind her desk at the front of the room when there was a knock at the door. Shannon peeked cautiously into the room, her braids that Donia ha plaited so carefully that morning a complete mess, her unruly bright red hair sticking out everywhere. Donia inwardly sighed and shook her head at the girl's state of appearance, which would only be acceptable for a few short years before she would be too old to wear untidy hair.
"Are you ready, Miss O'Brien?" she asked in a small voice. Her bright blue eyes studied Donia cautiously.
Donia smiled to herself. Always the careful one, Shannon was. That is, until she is in the familiarity of her own home. "Shan, you can just call me Donia now. I'm almost done, but do you want to clean those erasers for me while I finish with the boards?"
Shannon's face relaxed considerably as she skipped into the room and hastily dropped her books on a nearby desk so she could perform her favorite task. For most, cleaning chalkboard erasers was a punishment for the naughty students, but for Shannon, it was some source of wonderment as the dust particles formed clouds of different shapes and sizes, slowly dissipating into nothingness, just like a dream slipping away from the dreamer's mind as they slip back into consciousness. She clapped the erasers with vigor as Donia finished the last board.
Donia gathered up her textbooks and turned to Shannon, who was still marveling at the chalk dust. "Ready to go, Shan?" she asked, breaking the girl out of her trance.
Shannon put the erasers back on the ledge. "Yes, Miss O'Brien."
She sighed. "Shannon, I'm not a teacher anymore. I'm just your sister."
"Okay, Donia," she giggled.
Donia looked around the room, her brow creasing deeper with every turn. "Where are Moira and Finn?"
"They left without us. I tried to tell them that they would get in trouble cause you want us to all walk home together and so do Ma and Dad, but they don't listen to me." She stuck out a lip. "They never listen to me."
"That's okay, Shan. They don't listen to me, either."
"Yeah, but you're older and bigger and now you're a teacher. When do I get to be big?"
Donia laughed darkly. "Don't worry, you'll be grown up before you know it," she muttered.
The girls walked down the dirt road through the town, passing Gilmour's General Store, the post office, and St. John's. The sun was still high and strong, but not as much so as last week. Yet another sign of the coming winter. The chilly wind swept up behind them with more of a bite than they were accustomed to, as if warning them to hurry home, and the girls quickened their pace for a few steps in response.
Once they reached the edge of the town, Donia began to walk faster. They were passing through the strip of woods between the town and the farmland that stretched for about a quarter of a mile. The trees formed a thick canopy over their heads, giving what little light that was not caught in the leaves and branches, like flies in a spider web, a green tint. It was colder under the cover of the trees, but it wasn't the sudden chill that kept Donia walking at top speed without breaking into a run. Somehow, she thought running would make it even worse.
Shannon jogged to keep up with her. "Donia, why are you going so fast?"
Donia shrugged, trying to seem as calm as possible, even though her heart was raging and her mind on edge. "I just want to get home, that's all. Don't you?" She tried turning the tables on her.
"Yes, but not this fast," she complained. "Can't we slow down?"
No. We can't. But of course she didn't say this aloud. She couldn't, seeing that she didn't have a real reason for her rushing home. So she obliged, but only enough so that Shannon could walk.
Donia honestly did not know what brought this sudden paranoia. She used to love walking through the woods. The trees, so strong and durable, they were her friends. She could climb and sit in them all day, not once being dropped. They gave her shade in the hot, blistering summers and firewood in the blistering temperatures. She would play with her brothers and sisters all the time when she was younger, the trees acting as chaperones while their parents were tending the farm.
But lately, the woods were just not themselves. They were the trees…but there was something else with them. Or more like someone. She had only noticed this a few weeks ago, but it was different almost as once, instead of a gradual change, like she had blinders taken off her eyes, exposed to know what was truly out there. She knew that no one lived in the forest, but Donia couldn't help but think that someone was watching her. First, it was just here on the way home, but for the past days, she felt the invisible eyes all the way to her house or to school. It made her a nervous wreck, always glancing over her shoulder and jumping at the smallest noise in the background, just like in the films that she would see with Anita on special trips to the cinema in the next town over. Who knows what could be in the woods?
And those scary stories her Ma told of the Fey of Ireland didn't help, either. They lived in woods just like these. The dark, thick kind that anyone could get lost in so easily if they strayed from the trail. Then they would grab anyone fool enough to wander and take them back to their realm, never to be seen again. Once in a while, the missing person would return, but it would be one hundred years after they disappeared or they would be completely insane, or both. Donia shuddered.
"How can you be cold?" Shannon asked incredulously.
"It's just the wind. Caught me by surprise." She couldn't tell little Shannon what the problem really was. She wasn't aware of anything strange going on, so it must have been all Donia's imagination.
Of course there was nothing to be afraid of. There were no such things as the Fey—it was just an old wives' tale to scare children from running into the forest. There couldn't be any wanderers looking for trouble here, either. It was September, they had all gone south by now, knowing full well what a New York winter was like: long and cold. Even deadly. It was probably just a few animals that had Donia so spooked. And they were nothing to be afraid of, either. The men, her Dad included, had run all the wolves and cougars out years ago. They even had an annual hunt just in case any came back. They had just come back empty handed a week ago. There was nothing to fear, especially if Shannon hadn't seen or heard anything suspicious.
But then why do I still feel uneasy?
Because it is not something I hear or see, but what I feel. She felt it as she and her little sister walked through the trees, staying strictly to the path this time. Even when Shannon had spotted wildflowers growing not twenty feet away, Donia called her back before she could step off the dirt road that, to Donia, seemed to be their only safety, like an invisible wall surrounded them and the path, impenetrable to the invisible eyes and whatever was attached to them, but broken once the girls walked through it. She didn't care how pretty of a pink they were, or how much Ma would love them. They had to keep going.
The girls finally saw the light at the end of the forest tunnel. Donia sighed in relief. They would make it, they would escape. Escape from what, though, she was not sure. She sped up again, anxious to get away from the unknown danger.
"Race you to the gate," Donia challenged in a desperate attempt to give her excuse to her sudden urge to sprint home. Lately, it was one of the very few places she felt safe.
Shannon replied by sprinting down the road, her books tucked under her arm. Donia took after her full speed, but her own books slowed her down. She followed the giggles of the bright haired girl, focusing on the bouncing braids of frizz so she could forget why she was really running in the first place.
"Ha, I beat you!" Shannon shouted in between gulps of air.
"You sure did. Now let's go and get our chores done." Donia wanted to get in the safe confines of her house as soon as possible. They were out of the forest, true. She no longer felt countless eyes on them. But that didn't mean that she didn't still feel like she was being watched. It wasn't many eyes, but only one, maybe two, sources now. And they only went away when she was in her home.
"Donia, can't we do them later?" Shannon whined. "I wanna play with Jack instead." As if on cue, Jack came bounding toward the girls, barking in joy of their return. "See? He wants to play, too. Come on, Donia, please?"
Donia sighed, torn between being responsible and being carefree. She knew the right decision, but she was so tired of acting like an adult. Being the oldest girl, she always had to grow up a little faster than everyone else. Now, she had teaching and Joshua was due to finally come home within a week…it was tiring to make such a drastic transformation, all in little over a month. And the invisible, unknown eyes only added on to her stress levels. Unfortunately for Shannon, it was not tiring enough to give into temptation. "Sorry, Shan, but you know the rules. Chores first, play later."
"But—"
"No buts, and I mean it. Let's go. We need to milk the cows before it gets too late. Hopefully, Connor, Moira, and Finn already started." Donia doubted it, though.
Shannon, being a girl of action, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Moira! Finn! Connor! Where are you?!"
Moira poked her head out of the window of the house, clearly irritated. "I'm in the house, obviously, Shannon. The boys are in the barn. And keep your voice down. You know Ma doesn't like shouting."
Donia put her free hand on her hip and looked down at her sister. "See? They're already hard at work and here you are standing idly."
"But Moira's in the house doing nothing," complained the red haired girl.
Donia gripped her books a little tighter. Normally she was the most patient with the youngest O'Brien, but her stressful first week, not to mention her newfound paranoia, was setting her on edge. She closed her eyes and spoke softly. "Shannon O'Brien, please go to the barn right now. I do not have the energy for you today."
"Donia!"
She snapped her eyes open to glare at Moira. "What do you want?" she shouted back, not bothering to keep the irritation from her voice.
Moira didn't even notice her sister's hostility, or ignored it, having been the sender more than her share of occasions. "Ma says you need to help me with the house."
"What about the house?" Donia yelled back. She had finally given up on all formalities. She didn't care about being a good example anymore.
"She said t prepare it for guests."
"What guests?"
Moira sighed loud enough for her sisters to hear all the way from the gate. "The new neighbors who bought the Willis' land," she replied as if stating the obvious.
"Alright. Come on, Shan. You heard her."
Shannon scuffed the ground with her toe. "Actually, I was thinking I should go help calm the cows for Finn and Connor." She took off running to the barn before she could hear otherwise, making Donia chuckle to herself. Shannon definitely knew how to pick the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, Donia did not have that luxury anymore.
Then she was left alone in the yard. Donia became hyperaware of the eyes now that there was nothing to distract her. After turning full circle quickly, scanning the terrain for anything out of the ordinary…and finding nothing, of course. Not fully convinced of what her eyes told her—that there was nothing out there, for goodness' sake—she dashed into the house to join Ma and Moira in preparing to welcome the new neighbors.
XXXXX
"She's definitely more perceptive than I was. Do you think she suspects anything?"
"No, how could she? She can't see us, Liseli." Sure, this new girl might sense their presence, but Keenan was confident that Donia had no idea what was happening. He had seen this happen once in a while with the humans. The smarter ones could almost know they weren't alone, but either just thought it was irrational paranoia, just as this Donia seemed to think, or they came up with a ludicrous excuse such as ghosts.
Liseli clicked her tongue as she watched the new girl yell across the yard and winced as she ran into the house. "They sure don't make young women they way they used to be. Did you see her run, Keenan?" She shuddered and shook her head. "She certainly does not behave as a Summer Queen should."
"It's not about elegance, Liseli," Keenan defended. "She's a teacher. Therefore, she is intelligent and can control and lead others. It's exactly what I need in a Summer Queen." He knew it. She would be the one he had been waiting for nine centuries. The dreams he had of her, leading a powerful Summer Court to defeat Beira, to row, to become the strongest of the four courts. He would live and rule happily with her, they would be the perfect King and Queen. They would love each other passionately and bring the next generation of the Summer Court. Yes, she was definitely the one. He could picture her already transformed—her straw colored hair becoming beams of sunlight, her dark blue eyes being the exact shade of a clear summer's afternoon. The light dusting of freckles across her nose would sparkle like a hundred suns and her pale skin would be golden. She would be a most beautiful Summer Queen indeed.
He started off down the road, lost in his fantasies of the future, only to be abruptly thrown out of them by Liseli's calls. "Keenan! Where are you going now? The Courts are over in the trees, not the farms!" she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
To my new home," he said without a backward glance. "I have a get-together with my brothers and neighbors to prepare for."
"You mean…?"
"Yes, Liseli. Niall bought the land next to the girl's house three days ago. Let the games begin again." But this time, she will be mine, she will be the one. Of that fact, he was most certain.
So...review, please! I really want to know what you guys think, especially since I'm adding loads of OCs and it's pretty much a whole different story, but I did do my research and found the hints dropped in WL about Donia's story. For the record, I don't know if Light In August was ever banned. It's what I'm reading in school and pretty out there with the themes. Thanks for reading!
--Loie