Chapter 5 - Lena

The next morning, I woke up well before my alarm. I’d slept with the window cracked, a habit left over from Faerie I can’t seem to break, no matter how many times the cold nights left my bones aching. Some feral part of me still craves the scent of fresh air, and the way it peeled away the staleness of indoor life.

In the forests of Faerie where my people are from, the air tastes of wild honey, moss, and amber resin. Here on Earth, the smell of pine needles saturates the air, mixing with the lingering sulfur of the old paper mill that closed down years ago.

My rented room is barely bigger than a closet, but I’ve taken the time to make it my own. The walls are lined with oddities and knickknacks. A driftwood shelf I made myself holding apothecary jars labeled in my looping script and filled with hard to find necessities. A pressed fern that still faintly glows under the moonlight from my homeland adorns my family’s books. Herbs hang drying over the large window over my kitchen sink, and small crystals line all of the walls.

It’s not Faerie. But it’s home. For now.

I pull an old green sweater over my jeans, needing a bit of comfort after last night’s fever, tie my dark hair back to keep it off of my neck, and I’m ready for work.

I grab the already packed bag of essentials from next to the door, double checking everything is inside I might need for the day… latex gloves, bandages, the mortally dull stethoscope I bought from a pawn shop before I got here. I don’t really need the stethoscope to hear someone’s heart, but it helps me play the part. And two vials of water, one normal tap but one from the spring behind the bakery and laced with just a trace of my healing power. Enough to not get me into trouble, but to act like the healing creams humans use.

I walk into town by way of the back alleys, taking shortcuts through yards littered with rusted swing sets and abandoned dog houses. At this hour, the sun is still below the horizon, the world belongs to the maintenance crews and garbage men. I like it better that way, almost as if I was back home. Even the wolves will keep their distance until the sun comes up.

Redrock had once been a bustling mining town, back before a witch accidentally summoned a demon while trying out a new tea recipe. Said demon then tore open a portal to Hell, and the supernaturals had to get involved to keep the humans from finding out. It was a mess to say the very least. There’s only so much you can do to hide the destruction, and the humans quickly found that the mines just weren’t worth it.

Sure, some stayed. And the supernatural world does our best to keep them safe, but the danger still lurks.

By the time I make it to the clinic, the air has already heated to unprecedented levels. The receptionist, a woman with chipmunk cheeks and a permanent sunburn from her time swimming at the old quarry, named Darla June flags me down as I walk in the door.

“There’s trouble down the old closed highway,” she whispers, not quite meeting my eyes. The chipmunk shifter in her can sense a bigger predator, and it tends to make our conversations short before she skitters away. “Sheriff’s up there with the McClellan boys. Car went off the ravine, and it doesn’t look good.”

“Who’s in charge out there?” I ask, keeping my voice even so she doesn’t startle before giving me the needed information.

“It’s Tam’s domain, I think,” the skittish woman glances over her shoulder, as if expecting the pack to materialize out of the tiny break room. “Just be careful, okay? One of the pack is waiting outside for ya, since ya don’t drive.”

I nod in thanks, turning around to rush out the door. Cognac stands leaning against a dusty black Ford Bronco. His eyes feel as if they’re staring into my soul, and the dead part of me wants to crawl into his lap, but I shake it off. I refuse to give in to whatever nonsensical feelings my body decides to grace me with.

“You the one giving me a ride?”

He glances at the truck behind him, before stepping away to open my door. “Nah, I just thought it would be cool to lean against it.”

“Oh great, they stuck me with the comedian of the group.” I climb into the passenger seat, waiting for him to rush around to his side. “Just try not to kill us on the drive there.”

His chuckle is a rumble that vibrates up my spine. “I can’t make any promises before coffee.”