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Beware the Night

The Adventures of Jane and Company

By Sebella SigelPublished 4 years ago 7 min read
1
Illustrated by Julie Warnant

Prologue: Earth

It all happened so fast.

After being gone for the better part of a millennia, the Fae came back to the human world, the plane of Earth over ten years ago. We didn’t invite the creepy little bastards back. They just kind of showed up, like disowned thrice-removed relatives to humanity’s family reunion BBQ. Unwanted yet larger than life, they came in droves to spike the punch with moonshine wishes, dazzle us humans with glamorous lies, and eat the kiddies before we noticed what the hell was going on.

So all the Fae, from your basic pond scum sucking Drowning Jennies to the lovely, dark, and deep secretive courts of the Wood Elves, turned up on humanity’s doorstop one day out of the blue to say ‘We’re here! We’re queer! Get used to it!’(Queer-the dictionary meaning of the word. That’s right. They took that back too.)

They didn’t come alone either. The Fae brought all the monsters, night terrors, and things best left alone along with them, the Others. About the only people excited about this sudden development were cryptozoologists, their entire life’s work finally vindicated.

If that wasn’t enough of a surprise skimming kick to the balls, meaning it hurt more than it should of, the assholes quite firmly asked for citizenship...or else. Everyone had a different response to that particular threatening demand, depending on what crawled out of the shadows in their corner of the world. For the most part, the United Kingdom was very welcoming to their own Fae, long abandoned castles suddenly rebuilt to their former glory in a matter of moments. On the other hand, Japan and several other Asian countries were far more hesitant, and with good reason. I would be too, considering a lot of their homegrown Fae came with multiple tentacles, and they weren‘t afraid to use them on others.

On that note, porn was never the same again afterward.

The US, being the greedy bastards we are, asked for an upfront payment before handing out the green cards like they were Pez dispensers. It’s amazing how many free passes fake gold will buy these days. By the time anyone official had figured that little gem out, the Fae, for better or worse, were here to stay.

Too bad for the Fae, it bit them all in the glittery ass later, but I‘ll get to that soon enough. The world had changed while the Fae and the Others were away. The Earth and this plane of existence was ours now so they had to follow the new rules that were put into place by the iron and the silver that we so casually wielded and wore now, and by all the varieties of salt available to us humans on any grocery store shelf.

The common folk didn’t need to beg a blacksmith for a ruined iron nail, or a bent horseshoe anymore. They didn’t have to borrow coins, or pool their resources to purchase precious salt or silver. Fae who stepped out of line too quickly got to learn firsthand that humanity hadn’t entirely forgotten everything about them and the Others, or how to deal with their wicked ways. Even worse for the Fae, humans had had centuries to lose the type of respect that comes from fear. The Fae and the Others got to find out firsthand that humans don’t scare that easily anymore, our senses dulled to horror, and even wonder by television, movies, and social media overload.

However, in our unearned superiority, we did gloss over one thing about the Fae. We collectively forgot how well they lied, and that all their lies were wrapped around a solid grain of absolute truth. When dealing with the Fae, you have to dig through a whole lot of shit to get to that nugget of gold. That made them dangerous, mostly because their truths were secrets never meant to see the light of day.

Of course, there were the usual debates, inquiries, and all the other political bullshit one has to wade through when dealing with any race or social issue. We all know how it goes, but the Fae and the Others were quick on the uptake. Anyone’s end game got all tied up tightly in a neat little ball of red tape, so slick in knots, it was bloody with political correctness, and thinly veiled PR campaigns geared toward the acceptance and the understanding of the Fae. It was all to hide their version of the truth, because not everything that glitters is gold after all. Sometimes, it is just the keen edge of a carving knife, the one that catches the light just right.

Yeah, your religious groups threw a shit fit over pretty much anything and everything the Fae did, but after a couple of demonstrations of where all the congregation’s members suddenly got lost in a mist, and a couple of ‘to never to be seen again’ type deals occurred, people just stopped showing up to protest. It’s difficult to be a self-righteous bully when the people you’re picking on can literally make you into the dung beetle you deserve to be, or jackass you are acting like.

To get some good press, it only took a couple ‘miracles’ later of the lame walking, the blind being able to see, and even some water being turned into wine to shut down the rest of the diehard zealots. We were also reminded that the Fae will do just about anything for a price, from curing cancer to making you the ‘fairest of them all’ for prom. For the most part, people were thrilled to learn that the Fae took plastic. Apparently, souls weren’t worth a whole lot these days when compared to the power of good credit.

That’s where their welcome really began to wear out. Humans and the Fae alike tend to forget how oddly adaptable humanity can be to the good, the bad, and the just plain strange. When the novelty of something wears off, no matter how obscene or ethereal it may be, the once fantastic just becomes part of the background as soon as the next ‘big’ thing pops up. The Fae’s return was a flash in the pan that lost its allure just like everything else when given enough time. A decade will do that.

The Fae had forgotten that humanity were the ADD children of creation so after everyone got a moment to take a collective breath, we all just shrugged our shoulders before moving on to the next big shiny thing. Suddenly mundane for the first time in existence, the Fae found out how much power they had lost. They should have remembered to stay in the shadows, holding onto their mystery and hidden charms with their greedy clawed fingers. When most of your power is based on attention, it is hard to maintain that sort of thing when no one gives you a second glance.

Don’t get the wrong idea though. There were still changes. There are new rules now to keep in mind. There are always rules when dealing with the Fae, or the Others. There have to be. People who take them for granted tend to disappear, or become something else entirely, or not at all.

The most noticeable downside is that when the Fae came back, bringing the Others with them along for the ride, humans lost the night. Careless assholes that they are, wherever the hell the Fae came back from, they left a door open behind them. It was just wide enough that they let all the forgotten stories back into the world before they were able to shut it tight against what followed them. Filled to its brim, this brave new world is full myths and legends that are so very real, and they are always hungry. Even worse though, the Fae won’t tell us why they came back, or who they slammed the door on.

Take this as a warning. Believe in shadows. Believe in mist.

Beware the night.

fantasy
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