YAFF Muse: The Seeker

Welcome again to YAFF Muse: blog rounds. The ladies of YA Fiction Fanatics have come together for YAFF Muse. To have a little fun, explore different styles of writing and to give you some kick-butt shorts to read.  Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Morguefile  hotblack

 

The sky grew dark as I rounded the corner near the park. Shadows clung to everything like sticky syrup. I shivered, pulling my jacket tighter to guard against the dreary Dublin weather, the light mist made me wish I’d grabbed an umbrella.

It probably wasn’t the best night for a walk, but I needed to get away from Grandma for a few. I was still pissed at her. She shouldn’t have taken me from the States. And everyday, I contemplated calling my mom to tell her I wasn’t in Michigan—that Grandma had kidnapped me.

Then I’d think about Grandma’s excitement as she showed me hers and mom’s “native Ireland”. The rolling green hills, the out of the way ruins. She’d been trying for years to get Mom to bring me here, but Mom refused. It had something to do with their falling out, or at least I thought so.

I sighed. Even after all the strange things I’d seen at the cottage, I still wanted to be here. At least I was pretty sure I did.

Ahead of me on the sidewalk two figures drew my attention. Not because of the dark colors they wore, or the way their unnatural gazes seemed in constant motion. But because people avoided them, like an invisible force-field had been erected around them to keep onlookers away.

My skin tingled, the hair on the back of my neck prickling as if an electric current crackled through it.

“Bollocks, are you trying to get yourself killed then, Keavy?” A hand closed over my mouth, and I was tugged behind a nearby tree.

I threw my elbow, connecting with a solid chest and jerked free. When I spun around, my eyes fell on Grady Connelly, Grandma’s, friend’s son.

“Shit! You scared the hell out of me,” I said, my heart still lodged in my throat.

Grady grinned, his dark disheveled hair sticking up in messy tufts. “Sorry ‘bout that didn’t mean to frighten you.” His smile wavered as he peeked around the tree. Two bands circled his wrists, glowing golden against the dusky surroundings.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Are you stalking me?” I asked when his gaze shifted back to me.

“No. But I am keeping your arse from being killed.” He ran a hand through his hair, then leaned closer. “If those two realized you can see ‘em,” he pointed to the two figures I’d been watching, “They’d kill you or if you got real lucky they’d force you to go with them.”

“What are you talking about?” God, he sounded like a psychopath, maybe being alone with him wasn’t such a good idea.

“I’m talking about your ability to see through their glamour—to see the Fae they truly are.”

I swallowed hard. What in the hell did that mean?

Just then, Grady pulled me against him, his mouth covered mine. I started to fight him, until I felt them grow closer.

Darkness swept by us like a parade of gloom. The air became sickly sweet, the scent of honey and soil assaulting my senses. Ancient flutes and drums filled the park, and my skin puckered with goose bumps. My stomach knotted and I gripped tighter to Grady, pretending not to notice them.

Once they’d passed by, Grady released me, but didn’t move away. “You’re a Fae Seeker, Keavy. Just like me. Just like your grandma. It’s our duty to protect the humans. We find the Fae, capture them, and send them back to their own world. Our kind have been doing it for centuries.”

I sucked in a lungful of air. “How do you capture them?”

“With these.” Grady held up his wrists, showing me the golden cuffs.

Grandma had a similar pair—and now I knew why.

“That’s why you’re here, Keavy—to help even the odds.”

“My mother…”

Grady shook his head. “She was one of us too, but she was scared, and she ran away, taking you with her.”

That explained the falling out. Shit! Why hadn’t they told me? I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the faint tinkling of music in the distance. This was madness. I didn’t know what I was doing…

“Keavy.” Grady touched my arm, and I opened my lids a crack.

“Yeah.”

“This is your choice. But know that we need you. One more Seeker on the streets, means less Fae to spread their darkness.”

Deep down, I knew Grady was right. With a nervous sigh, I grabbed his hand and started walking in the direction of the Fae.

“I guess we ought to get moving then, before they get away.”

Grady smiled, and he slipped a pair of cuffs over my wrists. Within seconds, my skin tingled with warmth, power dripping through my veins. This was my destiny. A life as a Fae Seeker.

 

 

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Mindy Buchanan

Traci Kenworth

Vanessa Barger