Mystery Lake
[23] Jessed Us For
At least the darn Wink town finally showed up on the sign; we just had to make it through all the other horny-sounding ones first. And the calls of nature beginning to scream. It felt absurd that so much and so little seemed to pass us by. Attention grew and mounted until finally… Release with a piddling rest stop for urgent piddles.
Half of us practically launched out the doors as soon as the parking brake was set. I did my best to keep pace and take in the spring-blooming serenity. It was still somewhat strange to have a full cadre of seasons spread out before you year after year.
I braced myself for the men's room with the worst of expectations and the lightest of breaths. It wasn't utopia; it wasn't even a really nice library that kept the facilities clean, but it also wasn't sprayed with strange colored leavings on the walls and seats. And that happened in far too many ladies' rooms. The mini-pools and surely urine spots marking the floor were not ideal, but they were avoidable.
The urinals tempted me, but I still preferred the relative comfort of a stall. Just outside the building, I caught a blond blur blasting across the pavement. Same look as Layla, but I had no idea why she would be in such a hurry to get back to the car. The moment got even stranger when I checked over to my left and Layla was still there, stretching, yawning, and generally ambling over by the other building. But the figure I'd seen was clad in the same clothes and had the same look and feel of hair as Layla. Were doppelgängers in fairy lore too?
Layla soon met up with Chiara for a cautious cuddle. I glanced over to the restroom and found it puzzling that Roxy hadn't gotten out yet. Miranda soon emerged, and I asked the three of them if Roxy was still in there. Layla rushed back to check, while Chiara clasped her hands together. They all did their best to check, but with every passing moment, my heartbeat was pounding against my eardrums.
No way, no fucking way, that she would just vanish like that. Don't you dare do this. Screw your Missing 411 fairy bullshit! Give her back!
I stomped around with my eyes tracing every single corner of the rest stop, pressing my gaze through the trees, and wandering as far as the area would allow. We all searched, combing every single corner that we were allowed to touch and then some. Layla, aside from me, was the most frantic and urgent searcher, shouting all sorts of rhymes and pleas for Roxy. If not for the morbid moment, some of them were quite catchy.
Scouring the rest stop and trying to communicate the situation to the limited authorities of an uncertain caretaker and a perplexed gardener was the height of frustration. It had to be fairies; it had to be something terrible, something like those hollow things. Why couldn't all of this just leave us alone? We didn't do anything. We didn't deserve this, especially Roxy.
On the other side of the parking lot, I searched around the small, raised forest on a hill, trying to push it aside like a rude curtain, hiding secrets I desperately needed to know. Through that comb-like narrowness, I looked back and thought I saw something—someone who wasn't there, who shouldn't be there, but whom I knew. They were on their hands and knees, as frightened as I was. It had to be Roxy, poor Roxy, deflated and depleted. But as soon as I stepped back through the trees, there was nothing to see but all the other expected people and things.
Not a hallucination; it just couldn't be one. She was here; she had to be, and whatever bastards were doing things to her, they better pray that Roxy finishes them off first before I get my hands on them.
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"FUCK YOU! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Roxy managed to crawl back to her feet with the help of the middle railing after losing her footing. The strange trucker slowly advanced on her.
"Such harsh words, dearie. But such actions by them are the point."
"STAY! BACK!" She didn't have anything to really threaten him with, and she knew she looked hopelessly pathetic as a threat. Her barking tone was something, and at least he still kept some distance.
He showed his empty hands turned up. "I'm not here to threaten you. I'm just here to have a little fun. And I'm sure you'll enjoy it too. We can make each other happy."
Roxy shook her head, her eyes intensely focused. She kept her attention on him while sidling away. "Not interested." There was nothing in the area to run to or use for shelter. The nearest oak was too much of a climb, and everything else was vertical and prickly before it offered any kind of support. She could run back to the buildings, but it was even more of a climb to get onto the slippery, corrugated, faded orange roof. Neither prospect was going to happen with the current state of her legs anyway.
The only other option was to make a sprint for the bastard's truck and hope he left the door open and unlocked—maybe even left the keys behind. Yeah, right. And a pile of gold to go with it. He stood there, calm and confident, no way there was an easy way out for her.
"Come on, do you really want to play hard to get? We're just going to end up in the same place after all these games." He sighed and yawned theatrically.
"Hard to get? I will rip off the nearest branch, shove it up your ass, and then pop your goddamn twig and berries off like a hood ornament for a car!"
The trucker paused, looking genuinely taken aback. "That's really quite uncalled for. I'm only proposing sex, Kralate in Faretend. I swear, I'm a gentle lover."
She had no idea what he meant by those strange words, but she didn't care. Roxy didn't like her footing on the worn ground near the cresting tree roots. There was scattered, slippery mud. She was liable to trip if she had to run. Perhaps it would've been better to make a stand in the bathroom, even if she would've been trapped.
The guy still kept the same modest distance from her, his empty hands showing and his creepy, glassy eyes reflecting in the light through the trees. "I don't want to press this point rudely, but I'm afraid you can't leave until we're finished. This is a hollow place, a little pocket of my own shaping, a shadow of their world with a light intrusion of ours. When it's over, everything will go back. In fact, I know you're getting more out of the deal than me. The uproarious pleasures. I just need a little relief, and it warms my spirit. Come, come to me, sweet lady Sidhe, and I shall bless you with ecstasy. And you shall feel the better for it."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Sidhe?" She had heard that name before. It was in what Jake recited from his class notes. The other oddity was the way that he referred to 'their' world and 'ours'.
"Of course. You are a lady of the blue light and gold gleam. Blessed with ravenous carnality. Of the fair folk with sweet delights. I seek only a humble taste to share with you."
"Are you bonkers?! I'm not a fucking fairy, and there's no way in hell you're getting a taste of anything! Go shove a carrot up your piss hole and gape it!"
The bastard took a hesitant step away, as if slapped. "You are so rudely uncouth. I can't imagine how you were raised. Though...I still find myself captivated."
Roxy narrowed her eyes and hurled forth the most lurid and detailed insults: "Go rub your dick with sandpaper! Go fuck a dead raccoon in the ass and suck out its rotten cum and puke! Fondle a cactus and jerk off with that until your penis bleeds Swiss dick cheese!"
Her litany of insults drove him back but also kept him close. The bastard seemed both offended and intrigued. He opened his mouth and said the thing she least expected him to say: "Will you marry me?"
"WHAT THE HELL? NO!"
"I have never found such harsh words so titillating. It's rare to find one so unwilling to drop her panties. You have truly left me smitten."
Damn fairies! Fuck, marry, and kill was not supposed to include "all of the above". What kind of fucked-up Otherworld did these assholes live in? She didn't want to know, and she certainly didn't want to be a part of it.
She crouched down, grabbed a fist full of dirt, and threw it in his face. "Get back! Get the fuck away from me, you fucking fairy rapist!"
He blocked the dirt with his hat and wore a quizzical expression. "Rapist? Oh! You truly wound me with such a human word. I am no rapist. I make love and give fountains of pleasure to fairy ladies everywhere—some cunning courtesans, some sweet, naïve maidens, some seeking adventure—but none who have ever said no. I know a lady fairy's body better than she knows herself."
"Listen to me... I. AM. NOT. A. FAIRY! I'm barely even a lady. Get it through your boneheaded skull. You fucked up, and you are fucked up. I want nothing to do with you." She hissed through her teeth, her body trembling with fury and panic.
The trucker shook his head, his glittering eyes squinting as if poised over a foul smell. "Nonsense. The gold, the blue, the shimmer. I know the mark of the Sidhe when I see it. In fact, your shimmer is so bright, I nearly hesitated. Only princesses and those destined for such fates would glow so brightly. Since you have neither called upon your guard nor used magic against me, I can only assume that you are destined, which would make you and I a perfect match for future royalty."
If only she could bust out some magic on his ass. Ice queen his balls. Do something worse to him when he first showed up at the truck stop and make those Hollows pay without having to wait for whatever Agent Cerberus and Rydia were to help. Strength to defend herself and those she cared about. But she wasn't some magical fairy princess like this lunatic thought.
"I'm just destined to kick your ass and make you eat it!"
The trucker frowned and looked genuinely puzzled for a second, as if taking the time to parse what that meant. He held his chin with his fingers and mused, "There are those truly ignorant of their destiny, despite holding immense power to shape it. You clearly… OW! YOU HIT ME! Stop that! Ouch!"
Roxy closed the distance and literally swung a leg around to assault him on the side. She didn't want to touch him, especially his ass, but she had to do something. This bully was going down. She swung again, connecting with the opposite side and crumpling his knee.
He looked shocked at her sudden assault, but that soon faded with a cruel grin. He brushed off his shoulder and laid his cap back on his head. "I think that's enough foreplay. I would prefer you to surrender yourself and be an eager participant, but if this is what it takes, so be it. Just remember that you have brought this on yourself. You clearly desire a rough lover, and I shall deliver."
Roxy braced herself but was surprised at how fast he was. He yanked her arm back and pressed his face into her chest. She struggled to breathe and stay on her feet, but she kept fighting, punching at every open spot, kicking where it mattered, and scratching where she had to. That didn't deter him, as he pressed himself on top of her and held her. At least his breath didn't smell nasty, more like he'd been chewing on too much mint. Not that it did anything to distract from the nightmare that was pressing down on her. No matter how he smelled, he was a piece of shit.
The bastard just wouldn't relent. His gross presence loomed over her. As he consumed her senses, the world around her dimmed and blurred, like falling into a fresh nightmare. She found herself in a new place—a vast field covered with long grasses and flowers. He pinned her down with his strength and breathed against her neck. Her teeth were ready if he came closer. But he drew back in sudden surprise. She broke free and crawled to put at least a few feet between them. He just sat there on his knees in that endless field, perplexed and uncertain.
"You… You smell like fairy. You have the shimmer. And yet… You reek of human, gaggingly male. What are you? You are Sidhe, and yet not. I cannot fathom. But it does not matter. I still want you. I can pinch my nose and bear it. Come."