Everything in the house is still disorderly. The papers lie scattered in every direction and the hulking bookshelf is still full of my father’s odd treasures and rare collectibles from travels to far-off lands. I walk warily passing by the rare books still in alphabetical order. The top shelf still holds his favorite knickknacks like the giant shark tooth, a painting done of my parents in Paris near the Eiffel Tower and a little golden elephant with bright amethyst eyes.
I take the elephant and put it in my purse because I had always had a deep love for this particular knickknack on my father’s shelf.
The house still smells like chocolate and the dusty books my father adored. I can still smell a hint of the cigars he used to smoke when he was stressed in his study. I would sit in the hallway near his door as the smoke billowed underneath the small crack in the door frame, smelling the deliciously intoxicating scent.
I sat in his chair just to smell that old, familiar scent that I had adored at one time. I was home again. I didn’t realize I had missed it so much until this very moment.
There was a gentle rustle near the door and I opened my eyes to see Theo standing there peering at me luminously.
“What do you think?”
“Everything is still as I remembered it. It almost feels strange; I would have thought there would be a family that lived here.” I say. “I was put in foster care at 13, after my mother was placed in the mental ward. I had no living relatives.”
“Your father still came here quite often actually. He searched many years for you but couldn’t find you. He kept this place because he believed that you might return one day.”
He looked sad, and I almost felt guilty for what came out of my mouth next.
“Well he didn’t look very hard, I’m sure he could have found me in one of those god-forsaken foster homes they placed me in if they weren’t always moving me around.” I say grumpily, pouting my lips and trying to make a point.
“Ah yes, but there was someone else who wanted to keep you hidden. Your father had no idea where to even begin looking once the humans had gotten ahold of you. He was genuinely concerned for your safety … but he also had a Kingdom to look after.”
Theo looks down at his hands awkwardly and clears his throat.
“Alison, there’s something else that I need to tell you. Do you like coffee?”
“I love coffee.” I answer.
“Good because you might need some to keep you awake for the really long explanation I’m about to give to you.”
“I feel like this isn’t a good thing.”
“Do you trust me?” He asks as he leans down across the desk, he’s so close I can feel his hot breath against my face. He smells like a mixture of citrus and nature.
“I don’t know.” I answer honestly.
“I need you to trust me because it’s my responsibility to protect you and to explain to you the circumstances of our situation. I need you to repeat the following words: I believe you Theo.”
I cross examine him with my eyes, waiting for him to say this is all just a ruse. But he just sits there, and the quietness in the room begins to feel uncomfortable.
“I believe you Theo.” I answer frankly.
“Good. Can you fight?”
“What?” I squeal. “You’re joking!”
“No. There are three Sneaks coming for us from different directions. He has only sent three this time as a test to see if you can defend yourself.”
“Theo, what the hell are you talking about? “ I shriek.
“Sneaks are shadows from our realm that can be easily manipulated to do things for others. Mathew has snuck some to the human world when he was banished from ours. I have three weapons, but I’m not sure if you know how to use any of them.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“They’re closing in, and we only have a few minutes.”
“Fine. Do you have daggers?” I ask.
“Daggers? You don’t seem like the type to use those.”
“Well, I was told I have a natural ability.”
He opens the small blue suitcase that he had on the bus with him and it’s full of weapons.
“I thought you said you only had three to choose from.”
“I lied.” He says. He hands me two intricate black daggers with shiny green jewels on the handle, and he pulls out a skinny javelin for himself. He takes out a tiny red bottle and puts it on his fingers then adds it to the ends of our weapons.
“So where do I aim?”
“There’s going to be a small purple vein running down the left side of what should be his arm. You’ll know it because it glows. These things can only fight at night and this is there one weak point so you can’t miss it. They’re fast, really fast and if they touch you… you’ll dissolve.”
“What?” I whimper. “I don’t want to dissolve.”
There’s a rustling sound near the open window and my heart speeds up. How the hell did I get in this mess? A figure slithers inside pinning himself to the wall. It looks like a man’s silhouette, other than the small purple vein that glows eerily on his left side and the hollow eyes and no mouth. I want to scream, but I can’t because I know what will happen if I do. He’ll know that I’m afraid. I cannot let him know that.
I toss the dagger, and the shadow screams in pain flying towards me in an angered rage. Theo and I stand back to back, but he moves me out of the way moments before the thing clutches me and hits the protruding, alien vein. It hisses as loud as a tea kettle and the sound reverberates off the walls. The Sneak turns into a smoking purple puddle on the ground and sinks into the floorboard and into nothingness far below us.
“You can’t miss again.” He whispers, as we race across the room together to grab the dagger that missed the first time. A second shadow, even larger than the first one enters underneath the closed door. It billows like smoke underneath it and reforms into something that almost resembles a man.
This time I spot the vein right away and I hit it with ease. This Sneak seemed to be much slower than the last one.
“The larger Sneaks are not as quick because they take more magic to use… the small ones are tough to catch. And the more people they dissolve, the larger they will become.” He informs me.
“That might have been good information to know before.” I whisper.
I notice something faintly moving across the floor. It’s tiny, almost microscopic, but it’s moving quickly towards us. I don’t see a vein, but it moves towards the desk and just for a split second I see a glimmer of purple out of the corner of my eye.
I throw the dagger, and I hear the hissing sound as a third puddle dissolves into nothingness, leaving my father’s study looking more like a science experiment gone awry with acid marks on the wooden floors.
Theo and I race out of the room and switch on all of the lights at once. We sit at the kitchen table staring at each other from across it. There are no words that can be formed at this moment. I think he knows that I’m in shock so he just sits there looking uncomfortable.