The Lost One

Written by Kaura Grande
Artwork: Butterfly Maiden by Barbara Gross

My hair. Call it vanity, but I just love my hair. I love the way it cascades like a brown river down my back. I love the way it always holds effortless curls, the kind people pay good money for. I love how it is always shiny, always soft, never frizzy, nothing is ever out of place. I love the color, rich brown with hazelnut tones, the two best things— chocolate and hazelnut. After my hair, my eyes I love next. Their deep blue opening to soft layers, flaked with golds and greens. 

I dress simply because it is obvious it wouldn’t matter if I was covered in dirt, their eyes would still follow me. Walking down the street I notice heads turn. Now and then my eyes would lock with a passerby and they would shift uncomfortably, cheeks turning red, but unable to look away. Partners would scoff at their tranced counterparts, yank their arms, say their names, some would even slap their faces, but their gaze would stay locked until I looked away.

The first time one of these onlookers followed me, I must have been 22. I made odd turns just to be sure and once I was, I began to wander mindlessly. I let him think it was a game of cat and mouse, except the cat is really the mouse. I made a “wrong” turn and found myself staring at a brick wall at the end of an old back alley. When I turned, I pretended to be surprised by his presence, scared even. When I moved as if to shuffle past him, he blocked my exit. 

“I just want to talk,” his breath stank of stale whiskey and his eyes were rimmed with gunk and incredibly redness. He could’ve been homeless, he could’ve been an addict, he could’ve been…it didn’t matter. He reached out to touch my arm, but before he could make contact I exhaled and my appearance shifted. Within seconds my hair transformed to vines, my skin darkened to a sea blue, eyes shined gold. Behind my back sprouted wings much like a monarch’s. He flinched back, stumbling over himself, arm raised as if to protect his ugly face. 

I reached down and let my hand glide over his cheek, resting under his chin. I gave him one soft kiss on the forehead, whispering, “it’s okay dear, it will all be over soon.”

***

To humans, I now show myself as 26, beautiful, entrancing, and sweet. After years of playing cat and mouse with the victims I could have sworn I had seen it all. Heard it all. The lies, the begging, the swearing, last promises, dying wishes. So it came as a shock when I let this particularly uncharacteristically beautiful woman follow me into a dark alley. I turned suddenly, prepared to attack but she looked me right in the eyes, hers flaked with golds and ambers, unflinching. In an exhale her eyes changed colors, from green to a very deep blue, and her skin once browned, shifted to a dark shade of purple, her hair grew longer and longer until the ivy vines were almost touching the ground. When her wings sprouted they mimicked Hypolimnas Alimena. I shuttered and moved back. 

“How?”

“You didn’t think you were the only one who could hide so openly in plain sight, Nolia, did you?”

“Holleigh?” 

“Who else would it be?” And she stood, her wings spread to their fullest width. It is not often that in a world this big, and with the ability to go wherever you want whenever you want, that you run into your ex while hunting bad people in Los Angeles. 

“It’s been years, how did you find me?”

“Five years to be exact. And it wasn’t hard. You’ve always been sloppy at cleaning up your messes. The council is angry. There have been too may unexplained deaths in this area. The police are suspicious and actively searching for answers. It wouldn’t have been long until you were caught.”

“I have been careful! Only after dark, only people who wouldn’t be missed! Only—”

“Nolia, we aren’t here to argue. It’s time. The council has summoned you home. You can come willingly or I can—”

“Ha! You’ll what? Drag me back? You cannot beat me, Holleigh. If I remember correctly, I was always the stronger one. I was always the one who came out on top.” I shot her a wink. She looked away quickly. I laughed internally. I still had it. 

Holleigh and I were friends turned lovers turned enemies turned friends turned lovers turned enemies again. We had a vicious cycle of falling into old habits when left to our own demises for too long, so I left. Things got too intense. I knew if we fell into the cycle again it would end with us together forever or one of us dead. The thought of either had been the only thing that had ever scared me. I had a slew of men and women over the years, but if I was being honest, none would ever hold a candle to her. 

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“I’ll come. Wouldn’t want you to embarrass yourself. Besides, it’s been a long time since I have been home. Daddy probably misses me.” I let my human form melt away and grasped Holleigh’s outstretched hand, ignoring her snort. With closed eyes, she sprinkled dust around us. We floated, spun, twisted, turned, and then landed softly in the land of faeries. 

Our world is small and moves out of harm's way whenever necessary. It is unseeable by the human eye and can fit entirely on the center of a sunflower—which is where it resided now.

“You should change first.” Holleigh gave a disgusted look at my outfit. 

“This is very trendy in L.A,” I said, looking down at my white wide-legged pants and matching tight one-shoulder top. 

“I’m sure it is.” She handed me a deep green skirt made of woven shredded grass blade, a tight rose petal corset (both delicate and soft), and daisy slippers. I changed quickly, staring at myself in the mirror. The door opened and Holleigh walked in. 

“Well this is the version of you I remember,” Holleigh said, handing me the charmed dandelion crown that would send small seeds floating off as I walked. She held the door for me to follow her out. We walked down the familiar fae court corridors enchanted with nature spirits that made the whole place a fairy tale paradise. 

“Ready?” She asked, but without waiting for an answer she pushed through the door and walked in. 

“Nolia. Holleigh. Welcome.” 

Always so formal, I thought. “Hello father. Long time no see.”

“Yes, it has been long hasn’t it? And you. Well, you have been busy.”

“Yes, Father. Holleigh has let me know that my actions have been sloppy and that the humans are getting suspicious. I will be more careful. Let’s have some tea and cakes and call it a day’s work. Then I can go back to my life and you can go back to pretending Saleigh is your only daughter.” The other council members shifted uncomfortably. A look passed through Father’s eyes. 

“I have not brought you here because of your actions, though you do need to be more considerate. There are more pressing matters… I have asked you home because Saleigh has been taken. Captured by the elves of the Baltic Sea and I am sending you to rescue her.” 

Without hesitating I kneeled deeply. “I won’t let you down, Father.”

I looked up, into the same eyes that I bore and a saw a smile flash. 

“I know you won’t. But to be sure, we are sending Holleigh with you.” His eyes danced with amusement. I shot to my feet. 

“But father! I am strong enough to do this on my own. I don’t need her help! I can—”

“Silence, Nolia, it has been decided. Holleigh is prepped for the journey. You need to as well. There is no time for useless arguments and discussions. Go. Now. Come back with Saleigh or don’t come back at all,” he raised his staff and gave it one hard tap on the floor to signal that this meeting was over. The council stood and swiftly left. Holleigh came forward, eyes filled with laughter. She knew. This whole time she knew and chose not to tell me. I grabbed her arms, swept out her feet, and had her pinned to the ground before she could blink. 

“You knew,” I snarled at her. She wrapped her legs around me, shifted her weight to the left, and rolled us so that she was on top. I struggled to get free, but it was no use. Now she had me pinned. 

“I see you’re out of practice. While you were out there taking down those who were significantly weaker than you, I have been training. I am stronger now Nolia. I am stronger than you. But, you are a better hunter than me. It made sense. We make the perfect team. Together we can bring Princess Saleigh back. Now let’s go. Before it is too late.” She stood up, offering a hand of comradeship that I hit away. I shot her a look as I walked away to get ready. 

***

Within hours we were on the border of the Baltic Sea scouting out the elvish land. Travel by faerie dust was wildly convenient in situations that required swiftness. We knew where the entrance of their hideaway was located, we sat watching it, studying it. Holleigh was timing the doors to see how long it took to fully open and how long it took to fully close. I was just beginning to daydream when Holleigh whispered, “Now!” 

She took off flying full speed for the entrance. I tailed behind her. We made it through just as the door shut, shrinking down to a microscopic size. We silently took in our surroundings and then Holleigh nodded. She had versed me well on the elves hideaway and I expertly guided us through tunnel after tunnel until I had completely lost the way out, but had successful found a locked door that looked oddly like one they would use to hide a prisoner. With a silent nod, we flew through the keyhole. There, crumpled on the floor was Saleigh. She was the true beauty of the fae folk. Her skin was a lilac hue, eyes green like the grass, her hair a tangle of thin vines that curled this way and that not unlike human hair. In her current state, she was not much larger than a small human adult, her skin was pale, breathing ragged, and hair brittle. She wore a tattered cloak like a blanket, her bare feet sticking out the bottom. We shifted to her size and gently woke her.

“Nolia? Holleigh? How?” 

“There is no time for ‘how,’ Princess, we have to go,” Holleigh reached down to grab her wrist and cried out in pain. A look of confusion crossed her face and Saleigh pulled back her cloak to reveal a set of chains around her wrist and ankles. The skin touching the chain was burned and oozing with fae blood. 

“It’s iron and it’s freezing cold, with it on her she cannot change form. We cannot move her.” Holleigh looked frightened. 

“Is there a key?” I asked looking at Saleigh. 

“Yes, but it is iron too. I am afraid you came all this way for nothing.” Saleigh looked away. 

“Don’t think like that. We can figure this out. We just need some time. We just need—”

There was a rattle at the door, Holleigh and I shrank and hid in Saleigh’s hair. 

“Well, well, well, Princess. If it isn’t your lucky day. You’re being moved. Let’s go,” a grisly Elf came over and picked up Saleigh, carelessly throwing her over his shoulder. She was too drained to fight back, only emitting a small whimper. The chains hadn’t even been attached to a wall. They had known that all they needed was iron and Saleigh would be rendered almost useless.

“Now’s our chance,” Holleigh whispered, “We might not get another.”

“What about the shackles?”

“We can deal with those later. Let’s get her out of here first. We can carry her. We are strong enough. You are strong enough.”

She smiled at me reassuringly, gave a quick wink, and then whispered, “Go.” Leaping out of Saleigh’s hair into the air, we grew larger and larger weapons at ready and came down on the Elf quickly and quietly. The poor sucker didn’t even have time to flinch before he was crumpled up on the floor, dead. Saleigh lay thrown next to him, breathing through her pain. I picked her up gently and was shocked by how light she was, almost weightless. 

“I don’t have much strength left, but I can hold this charm for you.” A weightless charm, I thought. I nodded and took off flying, ignoring the burning feeling from where her chains hit my skin. I followed Holleigh left and right, making odd turns until she managed to get us back to the door. 

“How do we open it?” I asked. Saleigh’s weight charm was wearing off and though she didn’t weigh much, I was feeling tired and sore. 

“When I hit this button an alarm will sound, but the door will open. You are to take the princess back to the checkpoint. There is fairy dust stashed there, near the rock you were so callously dozing off at. Take her home.”

“Wait, what about you?”

“I am going to hold them off for as long as I can.”

“You can’t be serious. You’ll die.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Holleigh, please. We can make it together.”

“We can’t take that risk and she doesn’t have time for us to argue it out. Go now!” She slammed her fist against the button and an alarm began to blare. The door opened slowly. I turned to Holleigh,looked her over one last time, smiled, and then I surprised us both by pulling her in for a kiss. I put every ounce of love and emotions I had into it, sending shock waves of electricity through my veins. She pulled away first, kissed my forehead, whispered something I didn’t catch, and then, “Go!”

I picked up Saleigh quickly and flew. I heard the elves running into the corridor behind me. I heard spears and arrows soar past my head. I heard screams of combat. I found the dust. I didn’t dare look back. I sprinkled it over us dropping the bag at the last second, enough for one other person, just in case. 

The world stopped spinning. We were on the edge of the fae village. I began screaming for help. Faeries appeared, a guard appeared, and then more guards. They took Saleigh from me. Someone lifted me to my feet. I followed numbly recounting the day's events. It had only been a day. A day to have and lose everything. A day. 

***

They were able to remove the chains from Saleigh, though the scars would never heal. I begged father to send the guards back to search for Holleigh, but he wouldn’t. My honor was restored⁠—I was offered a role in the royal guard. I was offered anything I wanted for bringing my sister back. None of that mattered. After another week I left, back to the mortal world. 

Some more time had passed and I was back in my game of cat and mouse. On this dark particular night, storm clouds threatened the sky and the air stank of electricity. I had allowed myself to be a “trap” in a back alley outside an abandoned warehouse. My back was turned, I was playing the part, acting scared. It had started to rain and soon my human hair and clothes were soaked. I turned slowly, but before I could change forms I was flattened to the ground.

A mouth moved to my ear. I could feel the breath hot breath on my neck. 

“You didn’t think you would get away from me that easily, did you?” My heart raced, my skin crawled. I tried to turn my body, but I was pinned well. 

“Holleigh?”