My immediate thought was that he was beautiful. Dressed comfortably in a loose white dress shirt and black dress slacks, he was like a model. Somehow he managed to rock the look with a pair of combat boots over the slacks. His hair was like a wild halo of loose curls. It stopped at the base of his neck, and it just screamed to have fingers run through it. Not to mention the way his gray eyes sparkled. Drop dead gorgeous. It took my breath away, I won't lie.

But he was calling for me, and that was what made the image of him shatter. Suddenly I saw the curved smirk and the over-confident air. There was something horribly wrong about this.

He was out of his mind. That was it; he was completely and utterly insane. I stood there, gaping like a fish. How the hell had the rose done that, and how had he gotten into the cabin without a sound? Questions reeling through my mind, I was startled by how angry my mother seemed to be getting.

"You can't have her!" she screeched. "You took Markus from me, you can't have Grace!" I noticed suddenly that one of her arms was held tightly around my waist, while one seemed to be held out towards him with the palm forward. What good was that supposed to do?

He seemed horribly amused by all this. "You honestly think you can keep her from me, Lanora?" My mother seemed to freeze at the name. What had he just called my mother? Lanora or something? This guy was bonkers.

"Mom. Mom what is going on?" I just wanted to know why it seemed like this nutcase and she knew each other. Well, I wanted to know a lot of things, because this was seriously starting to become like some fairy tale… Pausing I thought about the tome of Grimm Fairy Tales I had upstairs. Maybe I should have read that more.

His laughter filled the room. The shockingly warm sound was wrong sounding in the tension filled room. "You haven't told her what she is, have you? Have you even told her the debt that she must pay for you?"

I blinked. Ooookay. This had gone from weird to downright crazy. And it was getting on my nerves. "Listen to me you crazy bastard, you have no right to be here. So get the hell out of our cabin." My chin rose and I gave him my best imperious glare. He snorted at me, and gave me a look which told him he was unimpressed. That made me mad. I tried to take a step forward, but Mom's arm prevented me from moving.

"Don't move, Gracie. I'll take care of this. Just get away from here as fast as possible." My mother's skin seemed to melt, and a woman-thing stood there. Whatever she might be, she had the form of a skinny woman, but her skin was the slick color of a seal. In my shock, I squeaked, and as soon as I felt the arm around my waist loosen, I broke free and ran towards the back door.

I'm not sure what happened behind me. I think I heard my mother's voice saying, "You, focus on me!" and then a loud cracking sound, like someone was breaking floor boards. He shouted in surprise, and then I think I heard a snarl. I was too panicked to think. So I focused on running. I ran out the back door, and ran into the woods.

Looking back, I think that was very possibly the stupidest thing I could have done. But I didn't know that. As I ran, the dream flickered in my mind. Talk about déjà vu. It was action for action accurate. And I could feel that he was coming behind me. I don't know how I knew, but my instincts told me that the thing that had been my mother hadn't been able to hold him off, and he was coming for me.

Unlike in the dream, I tripped on a root. I cried out as I felt a sharp pain in my knee. It was badly bloodied. Why had I chosen to wear a skirt today? Ignoring the fact that it was my favorite skirt, I tore at the fabric and wrapped the bloodied limb up. All the while, I resisted the urge to throw up. People who know me know that I don't function well under stress. Before all major tests or competitions, I have thrown up. This situation was pretty damn stressful, and paired with a massive dislike of blood was making me seriously wonder when I was going to empty my stomach.

Something drove me to stand, and I told my rebellious stomach to hold onto that thought. I continued running in my mangled skirt, and ignored how much my knee was hurting. I just ran. I think it was an adrenaline rush, and I had chosen flight. Which made me think I was a horrible coward. The unhelpful voice in my head began a chant of coward, and I began to lose steam. As I said, I was no great runner.

So I decided to screw it. I turned back towards the direction I was running, and I glared into the woods. I probably didn't look like much right now; a pair of dirty brown boots that went half-way up my calves, a bedraggled brown skirt that was now only covering a quarter of my calves, a bloodied brown bandage, and a green tee shirt that had dirt on it. Not to mention my hair, which probably looked like a wild mess. Yeah, I wasn't much of a striking heroine right now. I would be damned, though, if I didn't at least act like I wasn't scared witless by all the events of today.

Expecting him to come into sight in front of me, I glared into the woods. I saw nothing of the white shirt or golden hair. Which was why I was panicked when he appeared behind me, grasping my neck, my arm pinned to my back. 'Shit, shit, shit,' I thought, gasping as the soft fingers tapped against my neck. My breath constricted in a moment of panic, before I forced a deep breath. 'Calm down, girl. You can manage.' The rational side of me said that I was just thinking bull shit. He had me in a position that put me in a ridiculously bad situation. Hand at my throat, it wouldn't take much to strangle me. Further more, he had my arm pinned up against my back, and could use that to move me around.

I was screwed.

His chin rested on my shoulder, and I could imagine the pleased smile on his face. Like a cat that I had once had, Charlemagne. That cat had been a wily old thing, and had always found ways to get to the glasses of milk that I had accidentally left on the counter. Every time we caught him after he'd knocked over the glass and began to snack, he'd had that horribly pleased look on his face. Like 'I'm smarter than you, and I've gotten what I want'. Arrogant cat. Arrogant man.

"So, Grace. After twelve years you are as enchanting as ever. I have had to take mortals before, but none of them were as interesting as you…"

"Bull shit." I said that first thing that came to mind. Here I was adlibbing, even though it was probably stupid. "You're just saying that to make me melt. You don't give a rat's ass about me." I don't know why I said that, I just know that he froze. If I didn't know better, I'd of said that my words had actually been right on the mark. How I had managed to do it didn't matter. I was just glad that I had made him stop. "Heh. Made ya stop an think, didn't I?" The pleased smirk was mine now, and that made me bold. I stood up taller, and slammed him against the nearest tree.

He released me and grunted. That had clearly only worked because I'd caught him off guard, but I'd take my victories where I got then. Grinning, I ran back towards the cabin. I had to get back to Mom. Who knew what this lunatic had done to her? I was only a little ways away when he materialized in front of me. It was like he was teleporting… I glanced back behind me, and he was gone. No fucking way, he was teleporting! In the time it took me to put two and two together, he'd pinned me against a tree, his face contorted into a snarl. I gasped in pain. He'd forced me against the tree hard.

"You're a stupid girl, you know that, right?" He seemed to laugh at my pain. Glaring defiantly at him, I spat in his face. Growling furiously, he pressed harder on the shoulder that he had against the tree, and took my neck into his hands. I froze, the defiance gone. Fear was there. Here it was. He didn't kill me in the dream, but the golden boy was going to kill me here. 'God, I know I'm stupid, but have some mercy on a girl?' I begged it mentally, and pressed myself and close to the tree as I could.

My eyes closed, I only heard the other person approaching. She screamed, and I assumed that it was my mom. I turned my head towards the sound, my eyes snapping open. It was the thing that my mom had turned into. This didn't comfort me. Where had Mom gone?

"Let her go, Arion." The thing's voice was my mother's, but the face was so pale I could see the bones. Not to mention the eyes… the eyes were like obsidian. I turned my gaze away from her. Seeing my distaste, the creature gazed to the side. "Grace… I never wanted you to see me like this. Never. I would have been glad that you never see me like this. You were supposed to grow up like a normal little kid…" Her voice broke. That thing… was my mom? Denial coursed through me. At the same time, though, I knew that each word was true.

"Tell her the rest, Lanora. Tell Grace what her father was, and about the debt you owe." The golden boy's – Arion, as his name was supposedly – voice was cruel. What did he mean by that, I stared at my mother, questioning.

"I…" she stopped, and took a deep breath.

"Mom, don't if you don't want –" My words were cut of with a tight squeeze to the throat. I coughed, and glared at him.

"Go on," Arion called, sneering at her. I hated him. Perhaps that's why I tried to kick him in the gut. It failed. He released his hold me to the tree, grabbed my leg and dragged me down to the ground. Before I could react further, he pinned my arms to my sides, and sat on me. "Stop causing trouble," he hissed at me, before nodding at my mother to continue. I was about to call out to her, but a gag materialized in my mouth. 'Go die in a hole,' I thought at Arion. He gave me a charming smile, and I wished that I could have laser eyes or something as long as I could be free of this.

Mom hesitated, and sighed in defeat. "I really look like this," she said, gesturing towards her inhuman form. "I'm not human, as you may have guessed. I was a member of the faerie court here. Then I was a wild girl, and I was in love with a human." She hung her head as if ashamed by this fact. "As a kelpie, it's quite unthinkable to love a human. Most of the time we drown mortals... But I loved him none the less. I was shocked, though, that when I presented myself in a glamour that he identified what I was and denied me. Broken-hearted, I returned home. Your father wasn't simply human; he was from a long line of spell casters. It is said that such humans are descended from the Fae themselves, and have powers beyond the norm. You could say that he was a wizard."

This sounded crazy. It was really crazy. Everything that was happening here was crazy! Shaking my head in disbelief, I wanted to be sick. Arion just looked like this was the best thing ever. He was amused by how hard this was for my mother to tell this story! I wanted to kick him half-way to China.

"But I refused to give up," Mom continued. "I went to a faerie in the courts known as Mama Thistle. She was said to have great powers, and I thought that she could aid me." A tiny smile formed on her face as she began absorbed in the memory. "She did. She gave me a ring to protect me from the iron that is toxic to all faeries, and gave me a potion to make me seem mortal. There were some catches. I could not return to my original form, or the potions effect would disappear forever, and my magic would be gone. But nothing in the faerie world is free. All comes with a price." She paused, and looked pained. "Mama Thistle was in service to the royals of court, and they demanded that in return for her aid, I would give them my first born child of the union. I agreed, because at the time all I wanted was to have Markus at my side."

I gaped. She said she was going to get rid of me? So much for motherly love! But then… why hadn't they taken me yet? I was certain that the answer would come in time. Arion leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "You're shocked and we haven't even gotten to the good part yet. Patience, Grace." I rolled my eyes at him.

Mom didn't seem to hear him, she just continued as if oblivious to the two of us. "It all worked out, you know. We got married, and we were happy. But he wanted children to watch, and I, forgetful of the price I had paid for him, happily gave him his wish. We had you, and you were beautiful. I knew we couldn't lose you. The way he looked at you… he would have died to keep you with him. I knew that we couldn't separate my family. So after five years of marriage, I told my husband the truth.

"He didn't take it well, but he knew that he loved me, regardless of what I might be. The only thing he did not forgive me for was promising you away. We ran with his help. He distracted them, and we ran. For four years they didn't find us. Yet at the same time, I had to return to this camp yearly to stay alive. Fae get weak in a world full of iron – with or without protection – and I feared that due to your half-nature you might be affected in a similar way… On your fourth year they found us. That was when they took Markus. He spared you, gave them his life in return for eighteen years. He thought that, given time, I would be able to keep you in ignorance and find a way to free you.

"Yet the day you got lost… I feared they had lost patience with the bargain and had taken you regardless." Her voice cracked. "I… when I found you on the ground I was so relieved that you had found your way home. But you told your story and I became afraid. They had found you, and the rose you showed me stunk of magic that was clearly keyed to you. I think it's like a signature – you accepted it, and that was your way of 'agreeing' to the bargain. I was furious. They had tricked you into accepting something that you had no knowledge of. So I began to work harder to protect you from them. I told you to get rid of the rose…

"I should have known better! I should have known that such things couldn't have been destroyed, that they would just come back…" She stopped the unbelievable tale. This was madness. Something inside of me told me that it had to be true. I remembered reading somewhere that Faeries couldn't tell a lie.

"I – I'm so sorry." My mother dropped to her knees. Arion smiled.

"Now. Let's try this again, shall we?" he said, the arrogant asshole. "I'm taking you with me, my dear, and you will listen. You are bound by contract." He waved the rose in front of my face, taunting me. Breaking off the thorns, he tucked the flower behind my ear in a surprisingly tender manner. "Come. We're going." He stood and pulled me up with him. Snapping his fingers, the gag disappeared.

"So my mother is a kelpie… you're what, a pixie?"

"Not quite," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile. Well then. Whatever that meant.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as he tugged me along.

"You'll see."