Pact Part 2

The mirror rippled like a lake and for a moment Jessica thought she’d drown in the glass. She tumbled out of the mirror and onto the ground, spitting up liquid glass that solidified on the ground before her into long shards. She didn’t have time to think, she already heard more steps coming down the hall.

She looked to the door - now barely hanging to the frame - just in time to see the wood splinter under the force of metal talons. She muttered a word under her breath that would’ve made her Father angry and forced herself off her knees, her feet taking her toward one of the shattered windows. Her fingers slid into her pocket, ensuring that the Stone was still there, squeezing it to her palm.

She needed to get out of here.

Fear drove her feet faster as she heard the door crumble entirely behind her. She leaped forward toward what had been a window, tucking into a roll out onto the fire escape.

Jessica didn’t expect the feeling of dirt beneath her. Crickets chirped where hinges should have whined.

She opened her eyes just in time to see a flicker of green energy dissipate into the evening air. Laying on her back she saw the black night sky above her. No smog, no soot. No glare from the Fae towers in the center of the city.

Just the stars.

She remembered laying out with her father, when they’d both been much younger, making their own constellations from the stars they could see on the farm. The memory led to others; the smell of cows and the taste of fresh milk, the work it took to bring a harvest to bear.

She hated all the work but loved every moment she got to spend staring up into infinity, naming the long-dead suns.

The moment lasted for as long as she could allow it and slowly she pushed herself up onto her elbows to see what was going on - and found herself staring at a big red barn. Well, it made as much sense as anything else. Getting to her feet, she ran her hands over her slacks to shake off the dirt before making her way toward the old structure.

The barn hadn’t been used in a long time, the rot slowly creeping in at the edges while the doors hung wide, an invitation for all sorts of animals to scuttle inside.

She took the invite.

Jessica wandered amidst the stalls of the barn as though it was a strange and holy land, her hand gently touching walls that hadn’t known anything but spiders and rats for far too long. Moonlight filtered through the holes in the roof to be split into thick beams by the slats of an empty loft before making little pools on the floor.

“Hello, Jessica.”

The voice made her freeze. The accent was airy and delicate, like a river speaking. Jessica turned slowly around on one heel, her boot sliding in the soft dirt.

He was taller than her by nearly a foot, with long thick black hair tumbling down just past his slim shoulders. His eyes were the same lambent green as the jewel her father had given her and the thin line of his lips was tilted up in a self-assured smirk. What chilled her though were his ears; long and delicate, each came to a point just past his temples.

He was an elf.

The length of the barn was between them and she tried to move her hand as subtly as possible to the Ether Stone, brushing a finger against her pocket, just to feel the solidity of it under the cloth.

The elf made a slow step forward, the moonlight dancing against his dark hair, highlighting the slim strength of the man’s form. The smirk still perched on his lips.

“I am not here to hurt you, Jessica. “ His placid voice flowed out in calming, rational tones.

Jess could feel her heart threatening to burst out of her chest.

How was he so damned calm?!

The elf moved a few steps forward, one long-fingered hand raising in a calming gesture.

“My name is Setiri. I know that this is disorienting”

“Disorienting?” She almost laughed. “My Father’s probably dead and I just somehow climbed out a window and into a barn.” Her eyes narrowed on the elf, “I’d call that ‘disorienting’ “

The calming hand slowly lowered, the Elf let a sigh slip past his lips and the satisfied smile left him.

“So, Thomas is dead.” The words fell from Setiri’s lips like weights, like destiny.

Suddenly, it clicked.

“What do you know about it?” She wasn’t sure if she’d meant it to be accusatory but that was definitely how the words sounded - even to her own ears.

The barn doors slammed closed, the thunder of it drowning out whatever words Setiri was going to respond to her with. Jessica saw several emotions flirt with his eyes before he spun and ran for the doors, throwing his body against the wood. The elf traced a long line against the juncture between the two doors and whispered something in a language that she couldn’t understand but recognized as elvish.

A gentle green light surged in the gap between the doors and Setiri sighed in almost relief.

“That’ll give us a few minutes, “ His eyes turned toward her, the green a bit diffused “Tell me the last thing you remember. Quickly. “

The events of the last hour tumbled out of her in shocked compliance. She told the man of her meeting with her Father and the box that held the Stone. She told him of the Artificials breaking in the door and the destruction of her dad’s apartment. How she ran toward the window and wound up staring at the stars outside the barn.

She may have forgotten to add that the stone had come with her.

The elf nodded and listened to all of it, never questioning, never judging. He just listened.

When the story stopped, he started, his eyes appraising her as he spoke.

“You have the stone or else you wouldn’t be here.”

The barn rattled and suddenly there was yellow sunlight dripping through the old rot-ridden beams. A shadow moved through the light, blotting out little sections of the barn’s exterior like an animal circling.

Each time the shadow came to the doors they would rattle, the beast was trying to get in, and each time the line that Setiri had drawn would glow brightly for a moment before calming. The shadow would then circle again.

“I don’t have a lot of time with this. You are not in a barn. You are still tumbling out of that window. “

Jessica’s face showed how she felt about this but the elf just waved a hand at her, pressing his back more tightly to the door as it shuddered again.

“Don’t believe me. I don’t care. The fact is you’re still falling. You are connected to the Ether Stone - which is what brought you here. This is a, “ He hesitated, grasping for the right word before muttering something again in Elvish, “This is a place between. A dream with consequences that connects those who have Ether. You are Untouched. No Ether. But the stone provides that which you lack.”

The door rattled again and Jessica noticed that the thin green line seemed a little less bright with each pass.

Setiri shook his head, as if to clear it, and turned again to her.

“I know you’re Untouched because I know, “ He winced, “Knew your Father. He was an excellent human and a wonderful friend. I helped him craft the jewel now in your right pocket.”

The door shuddered again and there was a growl, a low rumbling menace that rippled through her flesh like feedback.

The monster outside the doors darkened the barn again, the stalls shuddering with its next slam into the wood. The empty loft creaked in outrage, a few old bits of hay falling like snow.

“I don’t have time to tell you anything, you just have to trust that I'm not lying to you. Thomas, my friend. He told me you would have the stone and we should meet here.”

The enchantment - or whatever it was - on the door flared brightly as the darkness outside again tried to force its way in and this time the line seemed to unravel a bit, like frayed rope. She heard Setiri make a noise like swallowed pain. He blinked and looked at her with eyes that were much less bright than they’d been.

“You’re going to wake up when you hit the ground. I don’t have time! You have to find me in the real world. Get to Chicago. You’ll find a Vampire named Zyr. He’ll know how to find me. “

Perhaps it was her imagination, but Jess could’ve sworn the elf sounded afraid.

The barn shuddered a final time and the darkness lunged against the doors.

This time, it was enough.

Setiri and Jessica were thrown backward as the energy that had bound the doors snapped at last. The frame shuddered and in the bright yellow sunlight there was darkness. The shape of another elf - slim and long-eared - stood in the doorway. Setiri crab-walked back a few inches before stopping, his fingers digging into the earth while Jessica lay motionless, fear pinning her to the spot.

The elf stood in darkness, as though the sunlight that now poured through the broken doors dare not touch him. The Shadow, as Jessica decided to call it, took a single step forward.

Crimson eyes flared to life in the middle of an otherwise blank black space where the face should’ve been.

“Well, “ the thing said in a voice that seemed to emanate from the whole of it’s body, “if it isn’t Setiri Dyn. “

Jessica found herself able to move again and slowly she began to back toward the rear of the barn, movement measured in centimeters.

But movement nonetheless.

The Shadow hadn’t taken it’s gaze from Setiri.

“Yup, you caught me. Guess you’re going to have to take me to the Courts. Of course, you’ll have to find me in the flesh first. And then prove I was here at all. “

Jessica found it oddly comforting to hear the bravado back in Setiri’s voice, it troubled how much seeing him afraid had concerned her. Why should she care about some elf?

Then he showed her.

Setiri Dyn rose from the ground and rolled his shoulders, facing down the black, vaguely elven shadow. He placed himself between her and the other and with a flick of his wrist a short dagger appeared in his hand.

“You are aiding humans now? “ The Shadow sounded incredulous. Almost insulted.

“I am.” Setiri’s tone told her everything. She rose, running for the back of the barn.

Her back slammed hard into metal railing and she yelped in shock, falling onto all fours. The disorientation didn’t last as long this time. She heard the apartment door shatter, her eyes flicking up to see three sturdy but sleek Hounds move through the open doorway. Unlike the other Artificials these weren’t modeled off humans but rather dogs. Razor sharp talons, cutting edge sensors. They only had one task; Fetch the stick.

Seemed she was the stick.

The one in lead had inky black eyes, and there was no delay when it hissed out a single word.

“Human.”

Jessica Reyes came to her feet.

She had to get to Chicago.

Had to find the vampire Zyr.

She waved to the Hounds and grinned.

“Bye.”

She leapt from the fire escape and landed in the open dumpster below, cushioned by kitty litter and the detritus of a few hundred apartments. She hopped from the bin in time to see the dog-bots giving chase as she ran toward the mouth of the alley. Toward whatever was next.