Rose lay on her bed smiling at the ceiling. She had been in this giddy state of bliss for the past week since Benny had asked her to prom. They pair, who had always been pretty inseparable, were almost even more so now. It was common knowledge to everyone except them that they liked each other. They had always had an unconventional friendship but since he asked her to prom in front of the whole school and half the town, there was no fooling anyone how they felt. Benny started doing things that normally he wouldn't like: hold the door open for her, pull out her chair, he was practically a love sick puppy at this point. Rose was completely oblivious to this, she knew he was acting more gentlemanly but she was scared that if she read into it too much, she could get hurt if she was wrong.
A few houses down Benny sat on Ethan's bed as they finished their math homework. Ethan was just finishing up the last question when he looked over at Benny who was smiling at his paper. "Dude, does math really make you that happy or are you thinking about something else?"
"What?" Benny blinked, Ethan's voice bringing him back to reality.
"You were staring at that paper and smiling like an idiot, somehow I don't think it's math that has you that happy."
"Maybe I love math"
"Maybe" Ethan gave his friend a knowing look "you love Rose"
"No- I" Benny started stumbling over his words a bit, he knew he was bad at hiding his feelings. He knew that Ethan knew how he felt about Rose but having Ethan just say it like that caught him off guard.
"Benny, just ask her to be your girlfriend or at least on a date" Ethan rolled his eyes putting his homework on the nightstand. "She already agreed to go to prom with you, she clearly likes you, just ask her and get this over with already."
"I'll ask her when you ask Sarah"
"What- come on dude, you know I don't-" Ethan tried to counter but was failing miserably.
"E you have been in love with Sarah for like nearly 2 years just ask her on a date, the worst she can say is no"
The next morning Benny was standing in his usual spot on the sidewalk between his house and Rose's waiting for her. She arrived a few seconds later smiling at him, her hair pulled into a ponytail. She was wearing a sweater and a pair of jeans, just totally normal clothes but Benny still had a hard time focusing.
"Morning Benny"
"Morning Rose"
They walked together toward school, their hands brushing against each other every once in a while as they walked and Benny had the urge to just grab her hand but he held back. He settled for draping an arm over her shoulder, which was something he had done many times so he figured it wouldn't seem weird now. He just wanted to be closer to her.
"Ethan wants to walk to school with us today, I think he is planning on asking Sarah out," Benny smirked as he led her down the next street on the right. Ethan lived only about a block from Benny and Rose, so stopping by his house before going to school was no issue.
"It's about time, he has been in love with her since I've known him. I am pretty sure she likes him too, even if she won't admit it."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, I mean I know they are friends but I've seen the way she looks at him when he says something funny or does something brave. She has this look of affection that doesn't seem purely friendly but of course she always does that when he isn't looking."
"I guess I've never noticed before"
They reached Ethan's house within a few minutes, they were just passing the grassy area next to it before the steps when Rose stopped. Benny, whose arm was still around her shoulders, stopped and looked at her, trying to figure out what the sudden halt was about. He followed her gaze to the grassy area and saw a ring of white mushrooms a few yards away, probably large enough to fit two people.
"Mushrooms?" he asked a bit puzzled, not because the mushrooms seemed strange but because Rose was looking at them curiously.
Rose couldn't help but get a strange feeling when she saw the mushroom circle, "yeah, a ring of mushrooms." She said finally, "It just seems weird to see them."
Just then Ethan appeared in front of them, "hey guys thanks for walking with me" he noticed them looking at something and turned to look at it as well. "A circle of mushrooms that's cool," he said, confused by why Rose looked uneasy. "Don't they call that a fairy ring or something? I think I read that once."
"Fairy ring?" Benny chuckled "like the little Tinkerbell fairies? What's so special about a fairy ring?"
The three of them were starting to walk to school now, Rose spoke up shaking off the uneasy feeling. "Well in folklore there are many things that can happen if you step inside a fairy ring depending on the culture. One legend is that anyone who steps inside a fairy ring will die at a young age. Another legend says that you'll be ensnared by the enchantments cast by the fae. Another says that you'll be taken to the world of the fae."
"All of those options suck" Benny shook his head.
"Yeah" Ethan said nervously "let's avoid fairy rings just in case"
After the first period Rose was at her locker, getting her books when Sarah appeared beside her, "hey Rose" her voice was bright.
"Oh hey Sarah"
"So" Sarah's voice was now taking on a more playful and teasing tone as she leaned against the locker. "Are you and Benny officially a couple now?"
"What are you talking about?"
Sarah rolled her eyes and put a hand on Rose's shoulder, "come on girl, he asked you to prom in like the least nerdy way possible, which for Benny is basically impossible. You said yes and the two of you are even more grossly adorable together than before." She said that as if it was something that solidified her argument.
A pink hue crept over Rose's face at the statement, "we aren't- we are just friends, he asked me to prom as a friend."
"Three months before prom is even happening" Sarah sighed exasperatedly, "girl he just wanted to make sure he asked before anyone else had a chance. That dork is totally in love with you."
Rose wasn't sure what to say, she didn't dare believe that was true, "what about you and Ethan?" she countered trying to lay the groundwork. "Do you think you would go to prom with him if he asked?"
It was finally the end of the day and Rose was walking to go meet up with Benny and Ethan when Erica came up to her. She was smiling, the smile she always gave when she wanted something. "Hey Rose, can I ask a favor?"
"Sure Erica" she and Erica had never been best friends but they got along well enough, they had hung out a few times outside of school when she was with Sarah. Even though she wasn't a vampire like Erica or Sarah, the fact that Rose was somewhat popular despite being a nerd was enough to get Erica's approval of her.
"So now that you are dating that nerd-"
"Im not-"
Erica continued without acknowledging what Rose was trying to say, "I was wondering if you could hook me up with that delicious actor you were hanging out with before, Atticus."
Rose's blood went cold for a moment, the memories of her last encounter with Atticus, how he had hurt her emotionally and physically, made her feel a little sick. "Erica, I don't think you should mess with him. He wasn't what he pretended to be, he's dangerous."
"Rose please" she practically begged "he is so hot and I'm a vampire, if he is dangerous that's pretty hot and worse case I could always just have him as a snack."
This did not make her feel any better but she sighed "I don't speak to him anymore but-" she pulled out her phone and gave Erica his cell phone number. "You can have his number and call him or whatever but I have one stipulation."
"Anything" Erica seemed so excited now.
"You don't allow him to step foot in Whitechapel, if you meet up with him or anything you have to do somewhere far from here."
Erica didn't even question it; she just nodded and took the number from Rose before practically skipping off, "thanks Rose."
That night Rose was tossing and turning in bed, she couldn't get comfortable as something crept into her dreams. It was night and she was standing outside of Ethan's house, the moonlight casting an eerie glow on the damp grass and the white fairy ring. Suddenly a young girl came from around the back of the house, Rose tried to focus her eyes to see who it was when she saw that it was Jane, Ethan's little sister. She was walking toward the fairy ring, Rose tried to call out to her but no words left her mouth. When she tried to move, she found she couldn't, all she could do was stand there and watch. Jane walked right up to the fairy ring, stepped over it and vanished. Rose jolted out of bed, her brow covered in a cold sweat as she tried to control her breathing. It was just a bad dream, she reminded herself, but she found she couldn't fall back asleep.
She was so tired the next morning as she walked over to meet Benny on the sidewalk, he looked at her a little concerned. "Are you okay?" he said gently "you look terrible" She rolled her eyes at him, when he realized what he had said, "I didn't mean it like that, you always look pretty, I just meant you look like you didn't get any sleep."
Rose wasn't sure she had heard him correctly, he thought she was pretty? Sure he had complimented her looks before but it was always in a playful joking manner, but this felt different. "Yeah I just had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep" she admitted as they started walking.
Just then Benny's phone rang, he looked startled, not sure who would call him this early, when he looked at it he saw Ethan's name and answered. "Hey E, whats-" he stopped walking and Rose felt her heart drop. "Yeah we'll be right there" he hung up and looked at Rose, worry clear on his face, "Jane is missing."
They ran to Ethan's house in a full sprint, when they got there the police were already there, talking to his parents. Ethan saw them from the front porch and ran over to them, before he had a chance to speak Rose pulled him into a hug. He seemed momentarily confused before hugging her back and then looking at her and Benny.
"Jane's missing, when we woke up this morning she was just gone. The police think she might have wandered off sometimes in the night but that's not like her." Ethan was very clearly worried, his voice letting off the hint that he thought her disappearance might have some supernatural reason.
"I saw her" Rose blurted out and the boys turned to look at her with a mix of shock and confusion.
"What do you mean you saw her?"
"I thought I was having a nightmare but last night, I dreamed I was standing here and I saw her come outside of the house and step into the fairy ring before she vanished. I couldn't speak or move to stop her. I thought I was just having a nightmare but now I think it was what actually happened."
They all turned their heads to look at the ring of mushrooms beside Ethan's house, something that once seemed so innocent now looked ominous. "The fairy ring?" Ethan's voice was dry as they walked over to it, he made to step into it when Rose grabbed his arm to stop him. He knelt down and touched the top of one of the white mushrooms before he got that look in his eye, which meant only one thing, a vision.
"What did you see?" Benny asked cautiously.
Ethan stood up, "Rose was right, I saw Jane go into the circle and disappear"
"How do we get her back?" they looked to Rose as if she must know the answer.
"I don't know" she admitted a little sadly, "but I know someone who might"
They were sitting at the table at Benny's house across from his grandma, telling her what had happened. She sighed "this is not good, sometimes fairy rings are just normal rings of mushrooms but sometimes they are portals to the world of the fae." She pulled out an old book turning it a page with depictions of frightening looking creatures. "The fae are not the cute fairies you see in stories, there are many types of fae and they are all very dangerous."
"How do we get Jane back?" Ethan asked desperately.
"It seems she was taken, the only way to get her back is to bargain with the fae or make a deal with them. Both options are dangerous and not a good idea." her voice was wary.
"So there is nothing we can do? She's just gone?" Ethan was getting understandably upset.
"I will look into it and ask around, see if anyone knows something that might work" she tried to reassure him.
The three of them say in Benny's room, Ethan was on the verge of tears and Rose and Benny weren't sure what to do. "Don't worry E, grandma will figure something out" Benny put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Yeah Ethan, we'll figure something out" Rose's voice was unsteady as she put a hand on his other shoulder.
Just then Ethan made the face he always does when he has a vision, it was over in an instant and he looked at Rose.
"What did you see?" Benny asked curiously.
"I saw Rose, talking to some man who was inside the fairy ring, then it flashed and I saw Jane coming out of it safe."
No one spoke for a moment, "so I save Jane but how?" Rose wanted to help so badly but she wasn't sure how.
"I don't know I didn't see" his voice was low and sad.
Rose grabbed a book she had borrowed from her mother about the fae and thumbed through it again. She stopped on a page that talked about fae, taking children to eat them, and she quickly closed it before Benny or Ethan could see. "I'm gonna head home if that's okay Ethan, maybe see if I can find something in a book there. Call me if you need me or if something comes up."
They waved goodbye to her and she went home, she could see the light still on in Benny's bedroom and knew they were both still up. She felt so bad for Ethan and his family, she wanted to do something, anything to help. She scanned through the book again and saw a passage that mentioned how to summon the fae, and how to make a deal with them. She closed the book, a look of resolve on her face, she was going to get Jane back one way or another.
She was standing outside Ethan's house again and it was now nearly midnight, she knew that she had to do but still the thought terrified her. She knew that Jane was in danger with the fae and that she, Rose, stood a better chance against them than an 8 year old did. She walked up the fairy ring and performed the summoning spell, she waited and for a moment she thought it didn't work. Just then a man's voice spoke in front of her, she looked up to see a short man with black slicked back hair standing in front of her inside the circle.
"Well well well what do we have here" his voice was deep and raspy, "a little sorcerous summoning me, that's a new one, normally magic users avoid us."
She tried to steady her breath, "you have someone I want, a little girl, who you stole last night, I want her back."
He clicked his tongue, "and what do you plan to give me in exchange?"
"What do you want?"
"Trade places, we give the girl back and you take her place with us."
She knew that was what he was going to say but she had still hoped that maybe he would want something else instead. She took a deep breath, her heart racing, she knew if they took her that she might never come back but she also had magic and knew that if she didn't make this deal Jane was going to die. "Fine, a trade, give Jane back and I will go with you."
The man grinned before pulling a piece of paper out of thin air "sign here" he pointed to a line at the bottom of the page. Rose looked around for a pen but there wasn't one, the man shook his head and grabbed a pine needle shoving it into Rose's finger, a droplet of blood appearing there. "Our contracts are signed with blood."
Rose didn't bother reading the contact, there was no point anyway the result would be the same, she pressed her bloody finger to the paper and it disappeared. The man held out his hand and she took it before stepping into the circle. Jane appeared on the other side looking around confused and scared before turning to look at Rose. Her eyes were wide, before either could say anything Rose and the man vanished.
