Changeling - Part 2

Tonight was the night!

 

It was a half moon so she could see where she was going, but it would be hard for anyone to spot her.

 

Maya was ready to go exploring in the Bunlock Manor and in the two days she had waited, Daniel had become more and more obsessed with her, coming close to stalking her home. She was getting desperate, if this fairy stole Daniel who knew what he would be capable of. Or even what he was.

 

She had dressed for the occasion; a dark maroon vest top, long black hoodie and sturdy army boots. She had a wind-up torch in one pocket and in the other she had Dictaphone, so as to not miss a thing. She pulled her distinctive red hair into a bun and put a dark beanie over it to hide it. If anybody saw her they wouldn't recognise her straight away, she would have a chance to run. She was the only red head in the entire village, everybody knew her, or knew of her.

 

She had read in the book Daniel had caught her reading that you should never, ever give a fairy your name; you should have a code name. But since the changeling Daniel already knew her name... she should create one in case she was found out by some other fairy.

 

She sat there for a while thinking. What name would work for her? Her hair! She could be Ginger. No. It didn't suit her. She would need something deeper than Ginger.

 

A memory stirred:

 

"Come on Maya," a man called from across the garden, "You can do it. Come on, take a step." His voice was so nice, so familiar she couldn't not do it for him, he was the love of her life, "That's it, girl, stand up," He was pleading, she had to make him happy, "Susan! Come here quickly! She's walking!" I was almost to him, "Come on, you're nearly there. Come on, My Little Footstep."

 

An aching filled Maya stomach, she missed her father more than anything. Her name would be Footstep, it meant something to her and it protected her, like he used to.

 

She was ready! She would turn her gloves inside out when she put them on. She tip-toed passed her mother's room, although she didn't need to - her mother took sleeping pills after many sleepless nights. Continued down the stairs and gently opened the door, making sure she had the key, she then shut it softy behind her. Wincing at the creaking of the gate, Maya stepped on to the empty road, a sea of stillness, an ocean of silence.

 

All of a sudden, Maya wasn't so sure what she was doing was completely sane. Was she getting too obsessed? Was she going to end up like Cwenhild Bunlock? She hoped not, but this was for her best friend and Eve's brother. You're doing this for Eve. You're doing this for Daniel. You’re doing this for Eve. You're doing this...  she repeated, again and again in her mind and found the strength to take another step towards the cursed land.

 

The Bunlock Manor, or "The gone place" as the children in Little Town liked to call it. Why? Maya didn't know. She guessed it must be the idea that the estate wasn't part of the human's world, but theirs. Or perhaps because so many people when missing around this point. Disappearing with nothing but a scream. Gone without a trace.

 

She shivered. Don't be stupid, Maya, you're scaring yourself. But still the old stories came flooding back.

 

About a young man, who entered the forest after searching Bunlock Manor, told his companions he heard beautiful music playing far off. His friends tried to stop him because due to reasons unknown, people never seemed to return. However, the call of the music was too strong and he stepped inside. Twenty years later, a young man came out of Midnight Wood, he claimed to be the young man who entered all those years ago, but he hadn't aged a day. He was scared, terrified even, kept singing about fairies. Another strange thing; he didn't seem to be able to talk, only sing. He spent one night in the police station. I the morning he was dead. His body seemed to have been ripped by many little fingers clawing at him and his face beyond recognition. The night before he had begged to be put behind the iron bars, but the sergeant had refused.

 

Another, of a girl, barely older than a toddler, on holiday with her parents, not even thirty years ago. They didn't know the history of the Manor, so they had a pic-nic on the grounds. Well, at one point the girl went missing and the parents searched and searched for her. After three hours, they were about to lose hope and contact the police, but the girl tottered out of the house on the cliffs, without a scratch. She was sufficiently told off. That night the mother woke up suddenly to see the child biting and scratching her father, in, seemingly, a fit of rage. As the woman reached out to push the child off, the girl hissed, like a wild animal and fled out the door. Two days later she was found dead in a field. The farmer in charge said he swore he saw a giant creature terrorising his sheep, the girl must have got in the way. That farmer committed suicide days later.

 

Maya felt sick all of a sudden, she wasn't sure, now, that they were stories. In one of the old newspapers it talked about a man being murdered at the police station, they had put it down to 'an unstable mind breaking', A.K.A he killed himself. Also, on the internet a man was researching the little girl's story and said some of the facts didn't add up. But Maya hadn't taken any notice of them; they hadn't seemed relevant to fairies, until she had remembered the tales.

 

It was too late to turn back now - she was standing right outside the iron gate.