Hey all, I'm back again. Sooner than I thought. The virus has shut down my school and so I'm home alone. This may mean I might be able to post more chapters so yay! Here's chapter 3!
"You should not have been able to do that," Clary felt a hand on her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat. Without turning around, she tried to keep the fear out of her voice. "Do what? Fall?" After getting no response from him, she turned around, just in time to see the boy give her a look - a cross between a grimace and a glare.
Before she could react, he scooped her up in his arms, causing them to start spinning, and the blood rushed to her cheeks. The longer he held on to her, the faster they seemed to spin. "Hold on tight." Her stomach coiled into knots and she squeezed her eyes shut. Then, they stopped spinning. Clary opened her eyes, and she was back in the meadow.
"What...was that place?" she said between gasps.
He dropped her from his arm and onto the soft grasses beneath them. "Below."
"Below what?"
The boy's tone became terse. "Go home girl. And don't come back to the meadow." He turned to leave.
She stood up from the ground defiantly. "My mother used to take care of this place. She loved it." Her brows knitted together. "And I come and go as I please."
He looked over his shoulder at her, ruffling his golden hair. "Then, tomorrow, I'll take you."
~.o.0.o.~
Back at her apartment, Clary sat on her windowsill, absentmindedly doodling in her sketchbook. "Hey Grandma, what's Below?"
She bit her lip. "Is it a place where spirits go?" Hazel hopped down from her perch on the table and slunk over to rub affectionately on her calf. "Are you there when you're not here?"
The young girl turned around to look at her progenitor. "Is that where Mom and Dad are?"
"No, Love," came her grandmother's soft reply.
Clary turned back to her sketching with an excited flick of her hand, "Then it's unexplored land. An adventure."
~.o.0.o.~
The next morning, Clary pedaled on her bike with more fervor than the day prior, determined to find that boy and demand that he give back those taken girls. Personally she was angry with the townspeople for not caring more about these missing girls. No one will believe me, so no one will help.
Once at the meadow, she came upon a circle of rocks covered in strange runic symbols. Is it a faerie circle? She took a step closer to get a better look and the ground caved in on itself, her foot slipped and Clary fell through, down to Below.
Clouds of all different colors swirled around her as she fell, entrancing her. She was caught off guard when she suddenly fell butt-first on the hard ground below.
"Ugh, damned ground," she got out between clenched teeth, her hand reached around to rub her backside.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up, seeing the boy from yesterday. "You!" She reached into her backpack and grabbed ahold of her grandmother's old knife. "Free them!"
The boy didn't look in her direction. "I don't have them," his voice was quiet.
Clary didn't back down, "Then take me to them."
"You can't. It's too dangerous."
She grinned at the boy. "Things that matter often are.
He gave her an odd look. Suddenly, his pupils dilated and he clutched his chest as though it were close to bursting. The boy's knees buckled and he fell to the ground in a heap. "The Queen...she calls."
He swung an arm out to point a finger at her. "Birch! Hide the mortal. You, behave."
Clary gripped her knife harder in her hand. "I'm not a kidnapper! And I don't need to behave!"
"Ehem!" she heard from somewhere beneath her. She looked down to see an odd creature no taller than a housecat. It wore a strange white hooded cape that covered most of its body, showing only a kind green face. "Follow me, my lady."
"I'm no one's lady. My name is Clary."
The creature started ahead of her, only glancing back to tell her, "This way, No One's Lady Clary. My name is Birch."
Clary followed Birch for quite some time, over rivers and streams, under fallen trees, and through dark forests. "Listen, I need to find some people," she said once the pair reached a bridge overlooking a large field, shadowed in the moonlight, a large breeze rustling the tall grasses. "Do you know where your friend hides his...victims?"
The creature turned to look up at her. "Oh, Jace is not my friend. He's the Queen's new knight. If he took your friends, she probably has them."
"Where exactly is the Queen?"
"At her palace," Birch said matter-of-factly.
Clary fought the urge to roll her eyes at her ignorance.
"In Below's heart."
~.o.0.o.~
Not so far away, in a strange-looking castle, a queen sat on her ornate throne, before her a kneeling knight. "My knight," she said in a voice like honey, "what keeps you away from me?"
"Nothing, my Queen," the knight responded, keeping his head bowed.
"Are you helping the green people again? They are lower forms of life," she tilted her head to the side, tapping two red-manicured fingers against her cheek. "You shouldn't bother."
"Yes, my Queen."
The queen's blood-red lips twisted into a wicked smile. "No...that's not it." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "How delightful...a secret...hidden inside you…shining like a pearl."
The knight tensed, still not raising his head to meet her iron gaze. "I hide nothing from you, my Queen."
The queen stood up straighter on her throne. "Not for long at least." Holding out a pale hand, she produced a flurry of purple sparks.
The knight cried out, and a purple light filled the throne room of the palace.
I hope you all are being safe and responsible out there. Please, leave a review or comment for me, and let me know how you all are doing. I genuinely want to know what's going on in your lives!