Part Two and a Curious Visitor.

Ellis lurched back into the yard, screaming her name. He threw open the shed door, shoved aside wheelbarrows and tools, searching for her in every corner. Afraid he’d actually find her.

“Charlotte!”

A voice from the fog broke through his panic.

“It’s not possible,” a woman said.

Ellis froze, crouching beside a forsythia bush.

“I live on Gillihan Road,” the woman continued. “Half the houses on the island are empty. People just... vanish.”

“I know,” a man replied. “My wife left for work three days ago. She never came back.”

Ellis peered through the bush. Two men and and a woman stood just beyond the yard, their voices tense, their faces pale.

The woman turned and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she spotted him.

Ellis stepped forward, holding his hands up. “Please. I know how I look. I won’t hurt you.” The emptiness coiled in his midsection made that statement a lie.

The older man squinted. “Ellis?”

He recognized the older gentleman in the blue plaid shirt. “Wilson.  Wilson Davies. I know you. Your granddaughter is friends with my Charlotte.”

Both of his companions stood braced as if to run, their lips pressed into thin, bloodless lines, eyes flicking from Ellis to any available escape route. Behind them the fog roiled and surged forward, thin wisps of it arcing straight for him.

Wilson’s face melted into a look of concern and he edged forward. “Ellis, we have to get you to a hosp-”

“Please. I don’t have a lot of time.” Ellis held up his hand again and took a step back. “Something terrible is happening here. You need to find everyone you can and get off this island.”

The mist billowed at his feet, racing up his legs, already his thoughts scattered like dry leaves in a wind storm. His mind splintered again. The sharp scent of the group was like a spark hitting the dry tender of that persistent ache in his belly. Ellis clenched his hands into fists and hunched over with a grunt. 

Biting the inside of his cheek, he jerked his head up to stare at the trio. “Stay out of the mist.” He pointed to himself. “It changes you and there are… others. Fae.” Ellis screamed as he fought to maintain the grip on his thoughts and restrain the instinct to feed.

“Run,” he whispered. His body quaked under the effort of holding back his need.

Wilson hesitated, reaching a hand to his former friend.

“Run!” Ellis screamed.

The woman grabbed Wilson by the arm and dragged him away, fleeing behind the other man.

Ellis leaned against the side of his home, clawing at his sides and grinding his teeth as the mist raced to wrap him in its disintegrating embrace. His last human thought was of Charlotte, her warm brown face framed with curls.

The hunger swallowed him whole, and Ellis gave chase.

Just as you finish reading this grim account of one man's descent into something not quite human, the air thickens. Wisps of pale blue smoke slide down from the sky. In the shadows of the alley, a pair of green eyes gleam, bright, watchful, and very much not human.

You stagger back a step, preparing to do the sensible thing and run.

The green eyes flutter. "You can see me, human?"  

The vapor stirs around your feet. For the briefest moment, you think you see a twitching tail.

"If you read the account of that poor man you already know too much, and you can clearly see me which means you have the Sight." A black paw curls from the fog, followed by a flick of pink tongue. "But lucky for you, I need something only a human like you, one with Sight, can help me with."

You hesitate, eyes roving around, seeking a weapon to use against the beast should the situation go pear-shaped.

The strange cat leaps into the air, soaring in a billowing circle around your head. Wisps of smoke tickle the hairs on your cheek. "Before you refuse and flee from my presence, hear me out. Those with the Sight are seldom ignored by the Fae especially if they've just read something they shouldn't have. If my instincts are right about what's happening on that island, now is not the best time to be one of those people."

"Oh my poor, hapless human, you stand at a threshold. Run, and I'll glamour you, cast a spell to make you forget this moment. You may be safe until someone or something else finds you. Stay, and we both get what we most need. You'll learn enough Fae secrets to keep you one step ahead of them, and I gain someone who can go where I cannot. In this way we'll both be safer."

"Journey to Bookfunnel, grab your free ebook and check your inbox and spam folder for delivery. Then I'll contact you to seal our bargain. Or don't and wonder forever...."

 

Selina Leanabel survives by staying in the shadows, running a quiet apothecary far from the reach of the Fae. But when teen Charlotte Holloway arrives saying she can’t go home…literally, with a story of a father lost behind a wall of unnatural fog, Selina’s boundaries begin to crumble.

On Sauvie Island, the air is thick with a warding spell that breaks the mind and hungers for the soul. Entering the mist means risking the very stability Selina has fought so hard to reclaim.

Before the Last Battle of Moytura, the boundary between the Fae and human world had closed. Discover the origin of the invasion.