45
He was dazzled by a new flash of light as the now rusty post took another blast of electrical energy. The remaining spells were continuing their assault.
Sensation began returning to Stanley’s body and he shook with relief. He could feel his ability to control his muscles returning quickly.
He realized he was over the grate and below he could see fast flowing water. He pressed his nose to the grill and picked up the scent of foul air. It was probably a sewer line. Still, it might be his only way out.
Stanley hooked a thick finger into the grill and pulled. The grill began to rise and he got his other hand under the lip to tilt it up to rest back against the wall. The opening was too small for his Satyr body to fit but his human form would fit. Dropping down into the sewer was not his favorite option. He twisted the ring again and snapped back into his human shape but he could feel he had only minutes left before he’d have to switch back.
He looked down into the pit, trying to psyche himself up to drop inside but he chickened out. Instead he made his way around the room, hugging the walls as the steel post continued to get blasted by one state of raw energy after another. He was almost to the door when the ceiling finally began to give. A huge chunk of concrete dropped from above and brought a dusty office desk down with it. The desk cracked and tumbled towards Stanley who leapt back to avoid it. It stopped before it reached him and stayed largely intact. The concrete had smashed against the floor and some larger pieces of rubble went straight through. The floor was showing signs of fragmenting under the blasts which continued to pop, crackle, and flare.
Stanley ducked behind the broken desk as the door to the room pushed open. He heard outraged screaming as they spotted the Fae crippled on the floor. Then louder curses as they rush back to the open grate. Stanley slipped from his hiding space and rushed over to the door. He looked down at Leaharin and was shocked to see the Fae’s eyes were open and watching Stanley with seething hate.
The pillar finally gave and fell into the space below the building dragging chunks of the floor and the two screaming Goblins with them. The few remaining magic remnants followed the pillar into the hole and exploded at once.
Stanley leapt through the doorway and fell to the floor in the next room. He looked back just as Leaharin tumbled off a small ledge of flooring into the darkness and dust below, a look of terror in his eyes.
Pushing himself to his feet Stanley spotted his clothes and his computer bag. The computer was sitting on the table next to the bag with his cell phone. Also on the table, beside a stack of hard core porn magazines, was a tablet PC in a quality leather case and an expensive looking leather bound journal with an ornate pen. Stanley shoved everything, except the magazines, into his bag and grabbed his clothes. The building groaned and vibrated under his feet so he ran for the door on the opposite wall. He found a staircase and had to use his cell as a flashlight to help him climb up to the next floor. He exited out into a wide empty room, probably an abandoned warehouse. The building’s floor felt firmer here so he decided to get dressed.
“It’s time.”
He cursed the inner voice. He stuffed his clothes into the bag and set it down on a dusty table. He stepped away and twisted the ring.
Being in his true form felt like a relief but now he was naked and trapped in an abandoned building who knows where. There may also be more Goblins or Fae around. He grabbed the bag, his cell phone, went to an outer door, and listened. He could hear planes taking off somewhere nearby.
The old door was locked with a heavy metal bar across it but no keyed lock. He passed his flashlight over the door’s edges but saw no sensors for an alarm so he lifted the bar away and turned his flashlight off before opening the door a crack. The unused hinges creaked loudly and he held his breath but he was alone after all. Outside was pitch dark but he could see the street, a street light which was dimly illuminating something large, round and orange but what it was he couldn’t tell. He left the door open a crack.
He struggled to make a call with his cell using his much thicker fingers. He finally had to resort to using voice control. He didn’t have Mr. Duncan’s number but he did have Sigrid’s so he quietly asked his phone to call her.
He huddled down beside the door as he peered outside looking for movement. Nothing. He heard ringing. And more ringing.
“Hello? Stanley?” she asked, her voice sounded sleepy.
He fought back a relieved gasp at the sound of her concerned voice. “Sigrid! I- I’m in trouble!”
She was instantly alert. “What happened? Where are you?”
“I don’t know! I was grabbed on my way home and drugged. I woke tied up in a basement. He was… torturing me.” Stanley froze when he returned to the moment when he felt the Fae’s mind sliding into his. “I- I got free. I can’t… I’m in a big warehouse. It looks abandoned. I can hear airplanes nearby. I- I’m scared.”
“Stanley, does your phone have a map application?” she asked.
He groaned at how dense he was.
“It’s ok, just open the map and tell me where it says you are,” she said gently.
“Hang on. Uh, my fingers are too big for this phone. Wait, I have something,” he gasped softly.
He fished the fancy pen from the bag and discovered he could use it with the touch screen. He brought up the map and saw he was next to Newark Bay just south of Newark Liberty International Airport.
“Sigrid, you there?”
“Yes, where are you?”
“It says I’m in Elizabeth, New Jersey.” He read out the street address and he heard the scratching of a pencil as she wrote it down.
“Hang tight Stanley, we’re coming to get you. We’ll come as fast as we can.”
“Can you bring me something to wear? Something big to hide in?” he said timidly.
“Sure. I’ll text you when we get there. Stay hidden until I do,” she said and hung up. He wanted to keep speaking with her but that would just delay her.
Sitting on the floor, he examined the pen he was using and discovered it had no ink so it must be a stylus for the tablet he collected. He put it away and kept watch, hoping they’d hurry.
He must have nodded off as a sudden sound caused him to jump.
He looked around in a panic. The sound came again and it was coming from inside his bag. He pulled the tablet out and saw a small green light flashing. He wasn’t sure what to do. When it dinged once more he jumped and the tablet slipped in his big fingers the cover flipping open. The screen lit up, brightly splashing his face with light. He closed his eyes protectively.
A feminine voice gasped. He opened his eyes and stared back at the most ravishing redhead he’d ever seen.
She was staring back at him in surprise and delight.
“My, my, my… what do we have here? A Satyr?!? How delicious!” she cooed. The way she said ‘delicious’ made Stanley feel like he’d already been licked.
He opened and closed his mouth in surprise.
“Hello beautiful!” she said to him.
He managed a croak noise and her eyes went up to his horns. “Aren’t you lovely!” she sighed. “It’s been a… very long time since I’ve had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind.”
“You’ve met another Satyr?” Stanley finally managed to get out in his surprise.
Her expression turned sympathetic. “You haven’t, have you? Poor dear.”
He was frozen in her gaze but managed to shake his head.
“Your horns are far larger than a Satyr as young as yourself should have.” The tip of her tongue ran along her upper lip. “Normally they’d be just nubs. I wonder what else is so well… developed.”
Stanley squirmed uncomfortably. Her voice was doing things to him. “I- I have- to go.”
“Tut tut, do not disconnect me. I’ve called to speak to Leaharin,” she commanded with her smooth voice.
Stanley’s tongue felt like it was drying up again. Fuck, she was intimidating! “I- I think he’s dead.”
If he thought her gaze was fearsome before now it felt almost physically painful. “Did you kill my Leaharin?” she asked softly.
The horror and rage he’d felt when the Fae opened his mind suddenly burst forth. “He was in my mind! He opened… me! It was rape!” Stanley cried out shaking the tablet.
“Ahhh… shhhhh my little one. It’s over now. Be calm. Be calm,” the ethereal beauty said gently as Stanley took deep gulps of air and wiped at his eyes which were tearing with reaction. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Stanley felt his body calming and realized she must be extremely powerful if her influence could be felt remotely through a piece of electronics. He began to be very worried. He sucked in a breath to calm his nerves and looked at her. “Who- who are you?”
She blinked in surprise then smiled as she’d enjoyed the rare sensation of being surprised. “I’m Queen of the Fae. Queen Mab. I’m your Queen.”
“My Queen?” he blinked in return.
“How could you not know? Satyr’s are a Fae race. Or were before they were all murdered by jealous Humans.” She took in his bewildered expression. “Oh my darling, we have so much to talk about. Why don’t we start off with your name?”
He knew he should hang up, throw the tablet into the river and hide under a rock but he… just… couldn’t. “Stanley. Stanley Garin.”
“Stanley, how could you not know you’re one of the Fae?” she asked calmly.
“I was raised as a human. Disguised as one. I just found out recently I was a Satyr,” he mumbled in embarrassment then froze as her eyes began to glow. He could see a terrible rage building in them and he shrank back from the screen. She noticed his fear and clamped down on her emotions fiercely, getting control of herself until she closed her eyes briefly to take a calming breath. When her eyes opened once more they were warm and comforting.
“Well, I’ll have my people collect you to bring you to me in Ireland. I’ll explain everything to you when you arrive.”
“I can’t travel! A recent trip to Japan almost killed me!” he blurted in fear.
She looked at him curiously. “Then my people will bring you to a place in New York where we can speak more freely.”
“Leaharin was one of ‘your people’ and he raped me,” Stanley exclaimed.
“Did he know you were a Satyr at the time or were you ‘disguised’ as a Human?” she asked slowly.
“He didn’t know.”This content is © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Well then. A Fae would never mind probe another Fae,” she said simply as if that justified his action.