“One must always be careful of books... and what is inside them,
for words have the power to change us.” – Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel
Dawn was creeping across Glenwilde, starting to peer over the edge of the trees and buildings to soak into the township at the base of the mountains. Early risers began to stir, sensing that a new day was beckoning and that to stay in bed would only be a waste of time.
In ‘House of Figs’, in the Observatory to be exact, I was starting to wish I’d embraced the waste.
I was surrounded by five men whose expressions were less than friendly and their presence, unexplainable. The one who had grabbed my chin had let go and drawn back into a self generated shadow of gloom. The first man folded his muscular arms across his chest and lifted his chin, amber eyes rimmed with black studying me with heat. The one who had embraced me did not have the same distrust on his features but then I doubted someone with bright blue eyes and a shock of white hair could have looked angry. The calmly spoken man who was second to last had white blonde hair and faint eyebrows, pale green eyes and a peaceful exterior. And finally the man who had come up from behind me through the door I’d entered the Observatory by, gave nothing away except a solid, unmovable sternness that frightened me even more than the rest because, out of all of them, I couldn’t get a read on his emotions at all.
Mind you, I was a little distracted by my own tumultuous, terror induced emotions.
“Who the hell am I?” I creaked through my throat, hoping I sounded stronger than I felt. “Who the hell are you?”
The men looked at me then turned to each other, talking about me as if I wasn’t there.
“I thought something was not quite right.” The blonde haired man said quietly.
“Yeah but it took the vampire to figure it out.” The bare chested man retorted.
“Your nose did not tell you she was not who we thought she was?”
“She’s wearing Jo’s dressing gown and uggs. She smells like Jo.”
“Always some excuse.” The man who’d grabbed my chin rolled his eyes.
“If she’s her, where’s Jo?” The blue eyed man asked.
“That is a very good question.” Bare chested man raised his eyebrow.
“And who is she?”
“I may be mistaken,” blonde hair glanced at me, “but there is something familiar about her.”
“Query,” responded the man who had come in from behind me, “do you not recognise her from her photograph?”
“What photograph?”
“On the serving counter.”
There was a pause.
“Ah, Rob…that’s Jo and a little girl…Bethany something or other…”
“I present to you, the little girl…albeit ten years, six months and twenty two days later.”
There was an even longer pause.
“Wait…you think this…person,” the man with the cold eyes and cold grasp’s tone could have stripped skin off my body, “is Jo’s niece?”
Bare chested man tilted his head and appraised me. “Hard for me to see the little girl when a beautiful young woman stands before me.”
“Good grief…” Cold man rolled his eyes.
“Can’t we just ask her?” Said bright blue eyes.
“It would be a simpler matter than all this speculation.” Blonde hair replied calmly.
“Ah the wonder of a child’s wisdom.” Bare chest chuckled. “Well then, young lady…just who are you and what are you doing here?”
“And where’s Jo?” Blue eyes implored.
“And I warn you,” cold man said sternly, “we shall know if you are lying.”
“Your answers will need to be plausible.” Finished the one called Rob.
“Plausible?” I squeaked out from between my lips. “What’s plausible about five men appearing in the Observatory through doorways in bookshelves? What’s plausible about any of that?” I was starting to hyperventilate and my inhaler was upstairs in the bathroom. I only used it as a preventative measure, having suffered attacks when I was young but I hadn’t triggered anything like them in years. Apparently an invasion at dawn of mysterious and threatening men was just what I needed to go spiralling down into childhood hysteria again. My chest was tight. I pressed my hand to it. “You…came here…demanding who I am…but I’m not the one who is the trespasser! You are!”
“Now listen here…” Cold man began in a threatening tone.
“Rafael, take heed. I am detecting a sixty eight percent increase in alarm and her breathing has shortened by half to take in shallower breaths. The young lady is on the verge of a panic induced, asthmatic attack. Query, Faelan, would you…”
Blonde hair stepped towards me. I lurched backwards, striking the one behind me who grabbed my arms. Sure I was about to be assaulted I looked up in terror…and the man with blonde hair simply put two fingers to his lips as if he was deep in thought then pressed those fingers to my forehead.
And then…the pain in my lungs…lifted.
I heaved in a few deep breaths, becoming giddy from the sudden intake.
“What…did you do?” I whispered.
“Used the healing energy of the elves to calm you.” He replied simply.
“You’re not going to keel over now, are you?” Bare chested asked but it wasn’t directed at me, it was at the blonde haired man.
“I did not know you cared,” blonde hair waved his long fingers at the concern, “the healing required was minor although I would caution the young woman to avoid any further stress that might trigger another attack. A short walk amongst the life of creation will be enough to restore my soul.”
“Oh good,” cold man muttered, “now, back to the issue at hand…”
“Perhaps we should treat this young woman less like an interloper and more like a new acquaintance.” The man behind me said, having released my arms. “Young lady,” I turned and looked at him properly for the first time, “my name is Rob, an anthropomorphised artificial lifeform and I am a friend of Johanne West.” I trembled which I think came across as a nod. “The gentleman who just healed you,” I looked to the blonde haired man, “is Faelan Iffah of Ilanard, youngest son in the last line of highborn elves.”
“Ooh, me next! Me next!” Blue eyes bounded into my purview with a large grin and an open, honest expression.
“Go ahead.”
“I’m Eustace!” He beamed as if his name would tell me everything about him.
I could only stare.
“Dragons always lack ceremony,” bare chested man chuckled and stepped forward and grasped my hand, his amber eyes locking with mine, pointed canines appearing at the side of his smile, “allow me to add some grace to the situation. I am Bastian, werewolf alpha of the Wolfgang clan.”
Everyone then looked at the cold eyed man who stood with his arms folded, his gazed filled with mistrust.
“Well?” Bare chested nudged him.
Cold eyes kept his glare on me. “This is a waste of time.” He muttered, leaving the Observatory through a set of glass doors and heading for ‘House of Figs’.
“That,” said the man who had instigated the introductions, “is Rafael Grayson, second born son of Catina, queen of the vampires of Engaland.”
“And he’s always like that.” Bare chest shook his head.
“Perhaps he is simply requiring refreshments?” Blonde hair remarked. “It has been many days since his last coffee.”
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving!” Bare chest bared his teeth. “I’ll make breakfast!”
“Do try to remember that some of us do not eat meat.” Blonde hair followed him out of the Observatory.
“You’re the only one, Fae!” Blue eyes bounded after them.
“It is Faelan, Eustace and please, do not drip on the floorboards.”
I stood in the almost empty Observatory, the bookshelves having closed and the doors they had secreted, hidden somewhere beyond them. I looked at the one called Rob.
“I apologise for their manners and behaviour. They really are decent souls. You were something of a surprise to them.”
“Me…a surprise?”
He tilted his head and I felt like it was a learned or rehearsed move.
“Indeed. We were expecting Johanne West.”
“She isn’t here.”
“No, that I have gathered.” Rob righted his head. “I know it must be very confusing for you now. However, as your aunt would say, nothing looked so bad after a hot cup of coffee and a meal. Query, shall I escort you to breakfast?”
He offered me his arm and, because I was so dazed by the events of the previous fifteen minutes that I was sure I was suffering a concussion’s effects, I took it and was led into the house.
Half an hour later I was pacing up and down the veranda at the front of ‘House of Figs’.
I had to keep moving.
One, to keep myself from freezing and two, to keep from going crazy.
From my elevated position it was impossible not to see the figure crossing the street in a loping manner. I would have been pacing the front fence line but I felt compelled to keep an eye on my unusual guests.
I hurried to the gate and opened it.
“Thanks for coming.” I blurted.
“You know,” Jet remarked, “when I gave you my number for emergencies, I didn’t expect it to be the next day and at seven in the morning.”
“Emergencies aren’t something you book, you know.” I snapped, tension drawing my nerves thin.
“And I thought I was bad with people.” Jet yawned.
“Sorry,” I flinched, knowing I was being ungracious, “I didn’t realise the time.” Suddenly Jet’s presence had a newfound appreciation factor. “Did I wake you?”
“I didn’t sleep. All night online quest. What’s the big deal?”
“You have to help me!” I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the house. I motioned him to be quiet and pointed to it. “There are…people in the café.”
Jet yawned again. “Did you tell them the café is closed?”
“Uh, they didn’t exactly ask!” I protested.
“And you opened the door to them?”
“Oh don’t get me started on doors opening when you least expect it…or where there are no doors…”
“You know, I thought I’d been up all night but maybe I have nodded off and you’re a really weird dream.”
I paused and took a deep breath. “I know this is going to sound crazy…but there’s a dragon, a werewolf, a vampire, an elf and I’m pretty sure the last one is a robot…inside my aunt’s café.”
Jet stared at me. I waited for him to shake his head and walk away.
“Okay…how did they get there?”
“What? You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Irritating, yes. Rude, absolutely. Crazy…that remains to be seen.”
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” I grabbed his arm again and drew him around to the small steps that led to the veranda on the right hand side. We crept up like pantomime villains and I pointed through the window. “Look,” I whispered, “but don’t let them see you.”
Jet leaned and looked in. “I see a guy at the grill cooking who needs to put on a shirt…there’s another one whipping something up who looks like a Legolas wannabe…there’s a dude in a black suit making coffee…another one getting cutlery out and setting a table…oh no!”
“What!” I gasped.
Jet turned to me. “They’re armed. I just saw one of them pick up a butter knife.”
“Shut up.” I growled. “They’re intruders!”
“Then call the police!”
“And tell them what? That five fantasy characters invaded my aunt’s home through the Observatory where doors appeared in the shelves of books and suddenly, boom!”
“Boom what?”
I cringed. “They insisted on making me breakfast.”
Jet stared at me. “Diabolical…and a bit unbelievable. I mean, sure they’re oddly dressed but they’re hardly fantastical. If you could show me the dragon…”
“Oh well…”
“Whatcha looking at?!” We leapt out of our skin and turned to see blue eyed Eustace behind us, his white hair that had sparkles of light in it, wild like icicle fire. He pushed past us to peer inside with his face so close to the glass, he fogged it up. “Hey everyone!” He yelled and three out of four of the gentlemen inside waved at him. “Oh! I’m off to say hello to the fig tree!”
He bounded away and Jet looked at me. “Who was that?”
“That…was the dragon…apparently.” I shrugged, realising, now that I was saying these things out loud, just how incredibly foolish they seemed.
“Call me crazy…but he didn’t have the same…lizard-esque features as most dragons.”
I opened my mouth to protest when the window opened and the pale face of the, so called, elf, looked out.
“Pardon my intrusion,” he said politely, “but breakfast is served.”
“And it’s going to go cold if you don’t move it!”
I looked at Jet and he shrugged.
“You have to admit…it smells amazing.”
We sat at the long table together, Jet and I on one side with the elf to my right, the werewolf, the dragon and the robot on the opposite side and at the end, keeping a physical distance from us all, was the vampire.
The breakfast spread was actually pretty impressive. The werewolf had managed to find sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, a large cob loaf which he baked, drizzled in oil and a sprinkling of spices while, at the other end of the table, someone else had made pancakes and there was every topping I could have imagined and a few I never thought of.
The werewolf grasped a large plate and promptly filled it to bursting.
“I have missed this!” He declared. “Rafael…is this dark or medium roast?”
“Drink it and be grateful no matter what it is.”
“So tetchy. Rob, pass the maple syrup before Eustace drowns his pancakes in it.”
“Wait! I’m not done!”
I watched the men devour their breakfast, still trying to sort my thoughts through the shock of it all. I saw Jet pick up a plate and start loading it, carefully putting his food in separate piles.
“What are you doing?” I hissed at him.
“I don’t like it when food touches.” He insisted.
“Not that! You’re eating!”
“And?”
“What if it’s been,” I lowered my voice and spoke in a breathless whisper in his ear, “poisoned?”
“I assure you, that while our resident werewolf chef might be a little heavy on the spices,” the elf next to us announced casually, adorning his pancake with an elegantly arranged pile of berries and drizzles of syrup that made it look like a work of art and not the most important meal of the day, “the food will do you no harm…unless you suffer heartburn.”
I felt my face flush with embarrassment at having been heard.
“Faelan,” Rob said opposite us with a cup of coffee in his hand, “I know you will not have forgotten Jo’s warning about listening in to other people’s conversations…”
The elf looked up. “I was simply allaying fears that the young woman had about the nature of the food. How is that eavesdropping?”
“You can’t blame him, Rob, for having the ears of an elf.” The werewolf tore through a sausage, pointed canines making short work of it. “They can hear the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the midst of a hurricane.”
“You are prone to exaggeration…” The elf said in a slightly bored tone. “Besides, if I heard her speak, I know you could not have missed it.”
“Ah yes, but I witnessed the secretive nature in which she did whisper.”
“Alas, sitting next to the young woman does not afford me the position of being able to spy upon her.”
“You’re accusing me of spying?”
“I merely heard her speak. You observed the furtive nature of her actions.”
“How could I not gaze upon her lovely countenance?” I blushed at the werewolf’s wink.
“Good grief…” muttered the vampire at the end of the table.
“Are you done with the maple syrup, Bast?” Eustace asked.
“Eustace, you have had enough.”
“Awwwww Rob!”
I looked at Jet with a helpless expression. He swallowed, looking almost as bemused as I was feeling then cleared his throat.
“So…you’re an elf?”
“Are you speaking to me?” The elf asked. If you asked me what an elf looked like, not an elf of the north pole or a pixie elf but a Tolkien style elf, the man sitting next to me would have been who I described. He was lean and tall, not as tall as the vampire or werewolf but certainly no slouch. He wore a dark blue vest over a white tunic and his long, pale hair rested against it, gleaming like strands of gold compared to the spilt petrol hue. His eyebrows were quite fair as well and his eyes, green like translucent leaves with the sun shining through them. His ears were pointed, the tips breaking through the sheet of blonde which reached halfway down his back.
“Well, who else?” The werewolf said pointedly, licking sauce away from the corner of his mouth. How he managed to do it with an air of seductive sensualness, I failed to know…but his handsome features seemed to make it impossible for him to do anything in an ungainly manner.
“Yes,” I jumped in before the two of them could descend into an argument, “you Mr…Fallen?”
“Fae-lan,” he pronounced, “Faelan Iffah of the highborn elves of Ilanard, son of King Cadeyrn, son of Cael, son of Urien…”
“Someone stop him before he recites his entire lineage.” The vampire muttered.
“Oh go on, it’s great fun to see him go blue as he tries to say it all in one breath. Go on Fae!” Eustace laughed.
“Hey, Eustace,” the werewolf leaned forward, motioned for Eustace to do the same then smudged his nose with syrup, “lick that off.”
Eustace attempted to do so, doing his hardest to reach his nose tip with his tongue.
“Despite my aversion to the nickname ‘Fae’, that is needlessly cruel.” Faelan remarked. “Rob, would you be so kind?”
Rob used a napkin to clean off Eustace’s nose. He looked petulant and disappointed.
“Awwww…I could have got it that time!”
“And you are the werewolf?” Jet asked. “Bast?”
“Bastian Wolfgang, at her service.” He said, his amber eyes stroking my soul.
“You are awfully brazen, hitting on a young woman in the presence of her lover.”
“What now?”
“I am not!”
“No way!” Jet and I looked at each other and turned away.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Shame. I love a competition,” Bastian chuckled, “but yes, I am a werewolf in the service of her majesty, alpha of the Wolfgang clan.”
Bastian was the tallest out of all the interlopers, over six foot easily. He was built like rugged superhero, be it of lightening or water yet without hefty bulk. It was impossible not to notice his physique with his bare chest begging to be perused. The vest he wore was sleeveless, made of leather with fur and decorative stitching around the arm holes and the hem. His lips were prone to curling up at the corner into a delicious smile, exposing his pointed teeth. His hair was tawny and black. A lion’s mane sprang to mind when I looked at it. While Faelan’s pointed ears sat in an understated way on the side of his head, Bastian’s ears were on the top, soft with the same tawny fur and tipped in black.
“Where do you come from?”
“Alte Fehde, a land as wild and untamed as I.” He winked and I blushed again.
Good heavens, how did he do that?
“Bastian, as Jo would say, dial it back a little, would you?”
“You’re a robot, is that right…Rob?”
“Yes, I am.”
“And you come from…”
“You’re demanding an awful lot of answers for two people who are uninvited in this place.” I turned in astonishment and looked at the vampire. His face was looking down at his coffee but his eyes were on me, the darkness of his gaze making my heart tremble in a different way to Bastian’s.
“Uninvited?” I gasped. “This is my aunt’s home! You’re the ones who are uninvited!”
“Then why did you unlock the doors?”
“I didn’t!” I paused. “Well…maybe I did…but that was Aunt Jo’s doing!”
“How is that possible?” Jet asked. “Didn’t you say she’s in a coma?”
Abruptly the mood at the table changed. Everyone stopped moving…except for Eustace who was trying to stuff an entire pancake in his mouth but even he sensed that something was amiss and looked up.
Slowly…very slowly, the vampire put his coffee cup down, his eyes never leaving my face.
“What!”
Though it was a question, it was more like a demand spoken in a dangerously quiet voice.
“Aunt Jo…is in a coma…in the Glenwilde hospital.”
Four of my fantasy guests looked blank then turned to Rob.
“A coma is a prolonged state of unconsciousness where the patient does not respond to external stimuli.”
“So…she’s asleep?” Eustace asked.
There was a long moment as I suspect we were all grappling with a way to explain it.
“No, Eustace…Jo is not asleep.” Rob explained.
Eustace wrinkled his nose then shrugged. “Sounds like she’s asleep.”
Rob opened his mouth but Faelan shook his head.
“Best let him believe what he will.” The elf said quietly.
“Jo…in hospital…I can’t imagine her being so…” Bastian seemed shaken for the first time since meeting him.
“Did you have something to do with it?”
“Wha?” I looked at the vampire in astonishment. “Me?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” He said darkly. “Another relative looking to undermine Jo’s vision for this place and change everything?”
“What’s with the attitude?” I exclaimed. “I just rocked up two days ago after finding out my aunt is in a coma!”
“Then why are you here?” I suddenly saw a flash of fury beneath his cold exterior.
“She…she sent me the key.”
“The key?”
I nodded. “The key to the café. She sent it to me. When I got it I tried calling her and when she didn’t answer I called the police in case something was wrong and they told me she was in the hospital.”
“Bethany’s telling the truth.” Jet nodded. “I’ve been at my Pop’s for a week. Bethany only showed up two days ago.”
I know he was just conveying facts but the ‘only’ part of the sentence made me feel worse about the situation than before. I knew I should have come sooner. If only I had…
The vampire stood up and walked back to the café counter. We were all left a little rattled.
“Uh…where were we…”
“In the interest of saving time,” Rob began, “my name is Rob and my serial number is 00001S3X-A. I come from an artificial city adrift in the expanse of space where the last humans of my world are kept safe from the environmental degradation of the earth.”
“And in a time where robots are sentient?”
“I merely possess a façade of sentience,” he stated without pretence, “carefully balanced and honed algorithms allow me to mimic humans and their behaviour but in no way could I be considered sentient.” He was a handsome man but plain compared to the others that had arrived. There was nothing particularly distinctive about Rob that set him apart. However, if anything, his pristine appearance did give way to something unnatural about him. There wasn’t a hair out of place from its scraped back style, the colour of it so dark brown it might have been called black. His eyes were brown but I noticed they didn’t sparkle like living eyes did despite the detail of an eye captured perfectly in his gaze. His skin was without flaw and the symmetry to his expression was almost too perfect. Adding to the artificial nature of his creation, there was a slight sheen to his appearance, like he was made of plastic that hadn’t lost its glossy finish. It was as if he’d gone under the knife one too many times and had stepped away from attractive and reached unearthly and disquieting. His eyes blinked with the speed of a shutter on a professional camera. I half expected his eyelids to click with the same sound.
“This is Eustace,” Rob gestured to the young man beside him, still ploughing his way through pancakes, “he is a water dragon.”
“He doesn’t look like a water dragon…”
“Eustace can change his form by strength of will…or love of pancakes.” Eustace beamed at us. He was gorgeous. His hair was white, tipped with blue and about as wild as I imagine spikes on the back of a dragon would look like. He had pointed teeth like Bastian which appeared when he smiled. His eyes had a bright, wide innocence to them. Around his left eye and the base of his right ear, I could see opalescent shimmering, as if the scales of his dragon form hadn’t all been removed in his human replication. His fingernails were blue and shimmering and his clothes were simple and almost adolescent. I half expected him to wear a cap on backwards and his pants to slip halfway down his boxers.
“And what about…” Jet jerked his head towards the vampire.
“Alas, Rafael possesses very keen hearing,” Rob explained, “though not as sharp as Faelan’s, he will certainly know that we are speaking of him and not view it in a favourable light.”
“I don’t really view the invasion of my aunt’s home by five fantasy characters in a favourable light either.” I pointed out.
“I concede to your awkwardness. It is much the same as Jo’s was when we first found our way here.”
“So…she knew about you all?”
“We were here every day.” Rob tilted his head in that sharp, rehearsed way of his. “Did she never mention us to you on her mobile phone?”
“Oh…well…no, not really.” I shrugged. “We had other things to talk about…when we did talk.”
“I see.”
The conversation ended. Eustace finally finished the stack of pancakes and Bastian was intent on eating all the meat at the table. Rob simply sat and stared ahead like the tin man when he rusted. I didn’t know what to say or do.
“Well…I’m going to go to bed.” Jet said after a particularly wide yawn.
“You are?”
“Yup.” He stood up and left without so much as an explanation. I ran after him, catching up to him at the bottom of the veranda steps.
“Why are you going?”
“Because I’m tired and now full…”
“But…you can’t just leave me here with these people!”
“Sure I can.”
“But…they’re freaks!”
Jet shrugged. “Seems to me like they’re pretty cool.”
“Jet!”
“Look, if they wanted to hurt you, they’d have done it already. And the way they talk about your aunt…seems like they were fond of her.”
I thought about this. They had seemed distressed at Aunt Jo’s condition.
“If you ask me, you’re pretty lucky.”
I stared at him. He didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. He just gazed back.
“Lucky?” I finally squeezed out.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “most of my friends would rather be in your shoes than win the lottery or get a ticket to go to the moon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Fantasy visitors from other worlds right in your own backyard. Gamers, anime and manga fans alike would kill for this. I mean, you’ve got a robot, a werewolf, a vampire, an elf and a dragon in your midst. And they’re all guys! It’s like you’re starring in your very own otome.”
I blinked. “I’m starring in my own what now?”
“Otome.” He said calmly in contrast to my near hysteria. “It’s a story where a young woman,” he gestured to me, “has a chance at romance with one or all of the half dozen or so handsome young men in her world.”
“Romance! With one of them! Jet, do you even live on this planet? This is the real world, we’re talking about!” I lamented. “I’m here to look after my aunt and her home. End of story! No fantasy creatures, characters or invasions need apply!”
“What a wasted opportunity.” I ground my teeth at him as he opened the gate and shut it behind himself. Then he stood still for a moment.
“What? Another pearl of wisdom? Another facetious idea?”
“Maybe,” he said turned to me without meeting my gaze, “given that your aunt is in a coma and that your current guests were also guests and friends of hers…”
His voice trailed off. I wanted to stamp my foot in irritation.
“What?”
“What if one of them put her in the coma?” My blood chilled and then turned to ice in my veins. Jet looked at me, not alarmed despite the seriousness of what he’d said. Instead, he was almost frighteningly curious.
“One of them?” I whispered. “But…but they were surprised to hear about her condition.”
“Maybe they didn’t know what they did? Maybe the elf tried some magic or incantation and she reacted badly. Maybe the robot accidentally zapped her with a loose circuit. Maybe the vampire took a liking to her blood and it triggered the coma.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I snorted.
“As ridiculous as fantasy characters appearing in your aunt’s library?” I paused. “Have you even checked her neck for bite marks?”
“Of course not!”
“I’m not saying they did,” Jet said with a shrug, “but Pops says that your aunt was full of life, happy, healthy and the last person he ever imagined would be in hospital. Something out of the ordinary happened to her and what are your current guests if not extraordinary?”
I stood at the gate, contemplating his words for so long that when I looked up, Jet had disappeared into Gary’s house. I ran my hand through my short hair and sighed.
“How do you evict fantasy characters?” I muttered. “Is that even a thing?”
I walked up the steps and opened the front door to see Rob with a chamois going over all the tables and ledges. I heard a clattering at the sink and spied Bastian humming as he did the dishes.
“What are you doing?” I asked, surprised at the domestic display.
“They’re always harder to clean if you leave them too long.” He said over his shoulder, somehow knowing I was speaking to him despite his back being too me.
“Bastian is simply paying for the half a cow he just consumed.” Rob remarked.
“Sausages mostly, pork ones at that.” Bastian looked at him. “I thought you were supposed to be accurate?”
“As one who has told me to not be so pedantic, I was simply trying to ‘lighten up’.”
“While you’re lightening, bring us those last few plates, will you?”
“I’ll get them!”
Eustace bounded into the room and ran for the table, grasping the large platter and stacking the remains of the crockery on top of it.
“No!” Bastian yelled and I watched the leaning tower of, soon to be, broken crockery began their precarious slide to the floor.
Rob scooped his arm under the platter, righted the crockery and managed to get it away from Eustace at the same time.
“Perhaps Faelan could use your help in the garden, Eustace. The plants have no doubt been missing you.”
Eustace’s eyes brightened with a child-like delight and he ran out the back.
“Is he always like that?” I asked, feeling a little dazed.
“Not always. Sometimes he’s hyper.” Bastian chuckled in his deep, rich, textured voice.
Now deeply concerned about the state of Aunt Jo’s precious garden, I hurried out the back to find Eustace reclined on the lawn, purring like a kitten. I shook my head and turned to Faelan who was speaking to the plants softly.
“…drink for days? Well, that must be remedied at once.”
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Were you talking to the plants?”
“Inquiring as to whether they were thirsty.”
I stared at him. “And…what did they say?”
“That they were missed in the recent watering.”
Despite the fact that they were the interlopers and I was the rightful master of the house and grounds, I burned with shame.
“The hose wouldn’t reach.” I muttered. “Anyway, do you really expect me to believe that the plants told you as much?”
“The soil from here,” Faelan gestured to the garden beds, “to the back of the grounds is much drier than the soil closer to the house.”
I put my hands on my hips. “That’s not the plants talking!”
“I did not say that they spoke.”
I dropped my indignant pose.
“The hose doesn’t reach. I don’t know how Aunt Jo managed to water all this. She should have had a sprinkler system installed.”
“She does.” I frowned, having found no evidence of any kind of a sprinkler system. Faelan lifted his head. “Eustace, the plants are thirsty.”
“Say no more!”
I watched as Eustace leapt into the middle of the courtyard and gave a shiver and shake. He grinned at me, closed his eyes and mouth and pinched his nose.
“I would run for cover if I were you…”
I couldn’t fathom what Faelan meant at that moment when Eustace began to shake like a large dog would do after a bath…and sprays of water erupted from his body, gushing out of him to pour over everything in sight, the garden, the courtyard, the lawn…and me.
In next to no time at all, I was soaked to the bone, dripping wet in Aunt Jo’s dressing gown and uggs.
Eustace sniffed and smiled after the drenching. “Ta da!” He declared with genuine pleasure. “How’s that Fae?”
“It is Faelan and it is adequate.” Faelan’s voice came from above, possibly on the gazebo or even on the roof but wherever he was, he was undoubtedly out of the range of Eustace’s dousing.
“Phew…I’m feeling dry. I’m going to go have a swim in the creek at the bottom of the gully.”
“But no further!”
“I know, I know!”
My arms were stuck out from my sides, the dressing gown now weighing what felt like two tonnes on my body. Faelan dropped beside me, completely dry with a superior look in his eye.
“Does that explain how the plants are watered?”
I gaped at him. “I’m soaking wet.”
“I did warn you to take cover.”
“Pretend for a moment that I don’t have the reaction time of elves!”
“So, you do believe that I am one?”
I shook my head, infuriated and freezing. I shuffled to the back door and removed the dressing gown and uggs. The boots went on the shoe rack in the laundry and I could only hope that they weren’t ruined. The gown went into the machine with a few of my clothes. I put the load on to wash then stomped upstairs, muttering as I did so.
“Freaking stupid fantasy intruders with their utterly ridiculous ways…”
I was so cold that I had to have a shower. Dashing from the bathroom to my bedroom was a little alarming as it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn’t do so without fear of being seen now. There were five men in the house…well, four. One was, apparently, down in the creek at the bottom of the gully at the back of the property where the water would have felt like liquid ice.
I rolled my eyes and dressed warmly then saw the time.
“Damn and blast. If I want to visit Aunt Jo, I’ll have to go now…but can I risk it? What will they do to the place while I’m gone?”
I debated about calling Jet again but he wasn’t exactly helpful and after being up all night, he was probably fast asleep.
I tossed up, briefly, about not visiting her at the hospital but dismissed it just as quickly.
I’d not come when she asked.
I’d damn well be there for her now.
I picked up my scarf and wrapped it around my neck, finding my gloves and pulling them on as I went down the stairs.
“Maybe if I leave without them noticing…they will carry on like I’m here?” I wondered quietly to myself. I put my handbag on my shoulder and went to open the front door.
“Where are you going?”
I spun around to find four out of five gentlemen standing behind me. Faelan looked calm but inquisitive. Rob was impassive and blank…until he tilted his head in his rigid manner. Bastian had his hands on his hips, apparently unable to conceive of how cold it was and to put on a shirt. Rafael was also there, arms folded across his chest, eyes glowing with suspicion.
“I…ah…that is…” Something Jet had said stuck with me. What if one of these guys had hurt Aunt Jo? Worse, what if it had been intentional and they were just waiting to finish the job? If I told them where I was going, they might follow me and finish her off! “Out.”
Clearly they were not dissuaded by my lame answer.
“Out where?” Rafael asked darkly. In fact, I doubted he could do anything without attitude.
“Just out.” I retorted.
“Given that you have taken up your handbag and you are wearing rather more sensible walking shoes than those you wore this morning, it is logical to assume that ‘out’ is a great deal further than beyond the front gates.” Rob rattled off without pause.
“Are you running away?” Faelan asked.
“No!”
“Do you want one of us to follow you?” Bastian asked with a curl of his lips.
“No!”
“She’s going to tell the local authorities about her ‘intruders’.” Rafael muttered.
“I was not…” My words lacked conviction as I had been considering the idea.
“As if any puny humans would be a match for me.” Bastian chuckled, flexing his fists.
“As if any of them could even lay a hand on me.” Faelan almost…preened.
“As if they would believe her…” Rafael said, exposing my deepest fear, that I would be laughed out of the police station.
I had to force my voice to work. “I am going to the shops.” I finally excused.
“Good.” Bastian declared. “You need to visit the butcher. You’re out of meat and I do mean out. What I cooked up this morning was fished out of the deep freeze.”
“Some fresh fruit and vegetables would be appreciated also,” Faelan added, “the garden has been neglected somewhat and will require several days before producing at capacity again.”
“You need milk too.” Rafael spoke as a demand, not a request. “I used everything in that little fridge of yours for the coffees this morning.”
“And Rafael becomes quite disgruntled without his coffee.” Faelan remarked.
“Really? How can you tell?” Bastian snorted.
“What do you think I’m made of?” I demanded.
All four stared at me. “Unless your composition is different to the humans of my world,” Rob said, “you are made of bone, flesh, blood…”
“Don’t mention blood,” Bastian shook his tawny mane and put his hand to his forehead, “you’ll send the vampire into a state of frenzied bloodlust.”
“Who said I wouldn’t go after you first?” Rafael’s expression, which was stern, became downright dangerous and his cold eyes locked onto Bastian. “After that decadent breakfast, your blood would be quite the feast.”
“I meant,” I cried, trying to break up the feud, “I don’t have the money!” They stopped their bickering and looked at me. “You do know what money is, don’t you?”
“You speak of the currency of this world?” Rob asked.
“Yeah! I can’t go buying food without it. You ate everything I purchased yesterday.”
“This is curious,” Faelan frowned, “Jo never complained about the dire financial situation of the café before…”
“All the more reason why we’d be better off with her and not this child.” Rafael glowered at me.
I had no protest to that.
After all…it was true.
“Do not forget that Jo did not start out with all of us on her doorstep.” Rob said, half turning so that he was standing on my side. “After all, a gradual increase is less stressful than a sudden one. The prosperity of the café also has to do with the benefits of all our efforts and we have not been here.”
“I can’t make coffee without milk.” Rafael muttered. “Unless one of you is going back to your world to milk a cow…”
“Yeah, like I could get close. I’d have to kill it first…” Bastian paused. “That would take care of dinner though…”
“Why don’t you all do that?” I suddenly blurted. “Go back to your worlds and get supplies? That would be a big help!”
The three gentlemen who faced me looked at each other.
“She must think we’re stupid.”
“To go through and have the door lock on us again…” Faelan seemed quite distressed at the notion. Well, when I say distressed, his eyebrows became oblique. That was about the extent of his emotional display.
“Besides, how do we know that food from our worlds would not have a disastrous effect upon this world’s humans?”
My heart trembled at Jet’s light suspicions. Maybe Aunt Jo had eaten something of theirs and it had dropped her into the coma?
“I just need…to get out.” I insisted. “But I don’t trust you to look after this place while I’m gone.”
“You don’t trust us?” Rafael went to step towards me but Rob stepped in front.
“Bethany St James has a point. What with Eustace flinging water everywhere and our sudden and very unexpected arrival, it is understandable that she would have some reservations about leaving us alone here.”
“Jo didn’t.”
“Again, you were not the first to arrive. I was,” Rob announced, “and it took time for her to trust me. After which, when each of you all arrived in turn, she also trusted me to watch over you until, in time, she could trust us all.”
“Seriously? She trusted Eustace?”
“She trusted us to watch him.” Rob said calmly. “Trust is earned and we cannot expect Bethany St James to trust us just because Johanne West did.”
“You mean we have to earn trust?” Bastian pulled a face. “That’s going to take forever.”
“Or be impossible…” Rafael walked away.
“Is there no way for us to prove our fidelity?” Faelan asked.
“Proof comes over time and experience.” Rob turned back to me. “Query, if you go ‘out’ as you planned to do and return to find all is well, will that constitute a step towards trust?”
“Well…yeah I guess.” I floundered. “But…leaving you all here in my aunt’s place…I mean…if it was my own place, that would be okay. But I’m responsible for Aunt Jo’s home.”
“Then we are at an impasse, as there is no way for you to trust any of us if we are unable to prove it.”
I glanced at the clock, knowing I was going to run out of time to visit Aunt Jo.
“Well…I suppose…if I was gone for a couple of hours?”
“I promise ‘House of Figs’ will still be standing when you return.” Rob put his hand over his heart, or in his case, where it was simulated to be as I wasn’t sure a robot even had a heart. “I give you my word.”
Despite his unnatural way of speaking at times and his ‘plastic surgery’ finish, I felt more inclined to trust Rob than any of the others.
“Alright. Two hours.” I said. “Please…don’t break anything…”
I left with no little trepidation. Initially my walking was slow, reluctant to leave the house behind. Then I realised that, if I walked quickly, I’d reach the hospital sooner and get back earlier.
So by the time I was admitted to Aunt Jo’s room, I was hot and sweaty.
“Okay, we need to talk,” I said, sitting on the chair next to her bedside, “when were you going to tell me about the five unique fantasy characters invading ‘House of Figs’ through the Observatory bookshelves?”
She lay on the bed, eyes closed, barely moving with only the beep of machines and the light rise and fall of her chest to tell me she was alive. I leaned forward and rubbed my hands over my face.
“I know you and I haven’t exactly been as close as we were when I was a child…but my goodness Aunt Jo…you’ve got a water dragon spraying water on your plants and an elf communicating with them! You’ve got a freaking werewolf in your kitchen and a vampire making coffee! On top of it all, there’s a robot who insists I can trust all of them!”
I groaned and pushed my hands through my short hair.
“I just don’t get it. You sent me the key to the house so you must still trust me a little…but a warning about your unusual guests would have been appreciated.” As I spoke, I recalled the haikus left for me in the book by my bedside. “And those don’t count! I mean, talk about obscure! Who leaves clues like haikus? Well…apart from you, I mean.”
Memories of games I’d played with Aunt Jo when I was a child came back to me and my heart ached with all the more guilt for never having visited.
“Actually, if I think about it, this random arrangement is right up your alley, isn’t it? And somehow you thought that I’d be okay with it if I figured the haikus out…” I gazed at her face, obscured by the breathing mask. “You wouldn’t have given me the haiku clues if you hadn’t been okay with them being in ‘House of Figs’, right? Is that a crazy thought? Cause, if you didn’t trust them, all you had to do was…not leave me clues.”
Though she didn’t say anything or respond in anyway, talking with my aunt like this made it easier to get my thoughts in order. It was as though she was just sitting opposite me in the café as I rattled my opinions off, allowing me the space to come to my own conclusions and only interjecting when I needed to question my judgements and attitudes.
“I suppose that makes me feel a little better about them being there. And, if I think about it…Jet’s idea that one of them might have done something to you that put you in this coma doesn’t make sense. Because…they were in their worlds and the books mixed up with the haikus positioned for me to find. You had to be conscious for all that to happen as they didn’t know anything about your coma…or so they say. So they couldn’t have had anything to do with it…directly anyway.” I tilted my head, immediately recalling Rob and his rehearsed habit. “However…the fact that you sent me the key and you gave me the clues to finding the misplaced books in the Observatory…did you know someone was going to hurt you? Did you suspect there was something amiss?”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw no one was watching. I leaned forward and eased down the robe my aunt wore and studied her neck as thoroughly as I could. There were no bite marks.
I sighed and looked at the clock. I’d have to jog the downhill stretches after walking the uphill ones if I wanted to get back within the time I’d given them.
“I really should be going. I’ll be back tomorrow…with the pot plant I promised to bring. Ugh…I will next time.”
I didn’t think she’d blame me for forgetting in the wake of all that had happened. I made sure she was tucked in before heading out.
My return time was much slower than I intended it to be. My stomach growled angrily at me. I hadn’t eaten any of the breakfast the werewolf had served up, or the elf and I’d been awake since before dawn. I was tired and starving.
Oh yes, I was also broke and the cupboards were bare.
I wanted to cry.
I knew I needed sleep from experience. My ability to make even the smallest logical decisions disintegrated into crumbs when I missed out on too much. It wasn’t as if I’d been sleeping well up until now either. It was all catching up on me, including the increased strain on my lungs. I could feel them tightening like they had not done in years. I had to slow my pace and walk through it, arriving nearly two and a half hours after I’d left.
As I turned into the cul de sac where ‘House of Figs’ waited, still intact and not a smoking ruin, I saw a delivery truck out the front. To my alarm, Rob was speaking with the driver who was unloading several large boxes. Bastian strode out while the driver was attempting to load them onto the trolley, heaved one onto his shoulder and the other under the other arm. He walked away as if they weighed no more than a plush bear. Faelan also made an appearance, speaking at length and pointing to different areas of a large box. Then he nodded and simply picked up the entire thing and walked inside the gate. Rob spoke at length again while I did my best to hurry to where they were standing.
“…apologise again for the lapse in ordering.”
“Not at all. Everyone heard that ‘House of Figs’ closed because of unexpected illness. It was devastating and, I’ll admit, a little alarming given that you’re my best customers. Sorry that some of the meat has been frozen. I didn’t want it to spoil.”
“I am sure Bastian will be able to make something remarkable from it. Thank you for providing us with fresh produce on such short notice as well.”
“My pleasure. Just happy that you guys will be back in business soon.”
“There are variables to which I cannot comment on,” Rob’s eyes flickered to me as I approached, “however that is what I…hope…as well. Bethany St James, how was your ‘outing’.”
“Yeah…fine. What’s going on here?” I asked rather abruptly.
“The delivery of some much needed supplies.” Rob said to be before facing the driver. “Your promptness at such short notice is to be commended.”
“You’re always too kind, Rob. Let me know when you need something more.”
“I shall.” I watched as the delivery man hopped into the truck, started its smelly diesel engine and rumbled away.
I turned and looked at him. “What the hell was all that about?”
Rob tilted his head. “The stress levels in your voice have increased dramatically and your phrasing implies ire. Query, are you angry?”
“I…what do you think?” Funny that I should ask him when I didn’t know myself.
“The purpose of your ‘outing’ was to generate trust in that we would not burn down or otherwise harm your aunt’s residence. As it is still intact, you should be pleased with the result, not dismayed. Query, have we erred in some way?”
“You were out here!”
“I was not aware that the terms of the ‘trust’ experiment stipulated that we must remain within the grounds.”
“You were talking with someone!”
“If you are referring to the warning of ‘stranger danger’, I ought to point out that I am perfectly capable of defending myself and am much stronger than I appear. If anything, others ought to be scared of me.”
My mouth had dropped so far open it felt like my chin was scraping the weeds at the side of the path.
“You, robot, were out here talking with a human…who has any idea who you are?”
“He knows I am Rob and that I work for Johanne West. We have communed on many occasions. He is a prompt product supplier.”
My head was whirling.
“Just exactly what was it he was supplying?” I creaked.
“Supplies.”
I let out a growl of frustration and stormed in through the gate and into the café via the front door. Boxes and crates were resting on the tables. The werewolf was sniffing the meat as he unloaded it, dividing it into two piles. The elf was sorting the produce into wooden tubs, making sure that each item was in its place. The vampire had opened one of the cupboard doors to reveal that behind it was a fridge, its modern façade hidden to maintain the quaintness of the café. He was loading it up with milk, studying each bottle and putting it in with fastidious concentration.
“Wha…” I was gobsmacked, tugging at the collar of my jacket. “Where did all this come from?”
“The delivery truck outside,” Faelan looked at Rob, “has she, too, suffered a mental injury that impacts her short term memory? Does she require healing?”
“As Bethany St James has suffered no mental injury upon seeing the truck, I must conclude that her query is more about, where did the money come from to pay for such purchases.” Rob looked at me. “Query, did I postulate accurately?”
“What?”
“Maybe she was just born that way.” Rafael said with his back to me and I bristled at his brusque attitude.
“How did you pay for all of this?!”
“Johanne West has a line of credit at several suppliers in Glenwilde. I contacted them with the product we required. Query, have I erred?”
“Erred? How on earth am I to pay for all of this?” My chest felt so tight I wondered if my ribs might snap. A faint voice urged me to calm down but I was too worked up to listen.
“It goes onto the line of credit that Johanne West has for ‘House of Figs’.”
“And if you haven’t noticed,” I snapped, “the café is closed and Aunt Jo is in hospital!”
“Bethany St James, I would recommend that you calm down at once. You are exhibiting symptoms of an imminent asthmatic attack.”
“Calm down! How the hell am I going to calm down when I’m broke, there are five fantasy characters ordering hundreds of dollars worth of food and the one person I could have turned to for advice is in a coma!” I was wheezing badly now, hunched over, trying desperately to fill my lungs but they wouldn’t work. My vision was going blurry and I couldn’t tell which way was up.
“Faelan!”
“Don’t…touch me!” I wheezed, swiping clumsily at whoever was coming close. “Stay…back…”
Hands that were as gentle as a caress cupped my face. I was drawn to look upwards into the soft green eyes of Faelan as he came so close, he could press his forehead to mine.
“By the divine light of Iffah, may you be healed.”
And then, he breathed out. When I realised he wanted me to breathe in, I clamped my lips shut tight but couldn’t hold it for long, especially with my lungs on the verge of collapse. The scent of fresh rain on a summer’s day entered my body at my gasp, flooding my lungs…and suddenly the pain lifted…right before I slumped into unconsciousness.