Beautiful Creatures.

Chapter 5

(Buttercup.)

I lived in a place where majestic trees reached up to the clouds and leaves covered them all the way to the trunks, like fur covering an animal so that you are unable to see the colour of the skin beneath it. To see the trunks and branches, one had to part the leaves with their hand. The leaves went down to the pebbled-covered ground, where there was no dirt, no soil. The pebbles crunched under your feet, a smooth, pink source of minerals that nourishes the land. They had the cracking sound of many eggshells breaking. Yet they never break nor burst, they bend, twisted then bounced back into oval shapes, once your feet have lifted off them.

These pebbles held the magic of Fairyland together and could only be crushed once it was wet, and then dried to a powder. It never rained in Fairyland, but the rivers from the natural world would run underground, bridge the gap between the supernatural world and the natural world, and flow through Fairyland. The water took many paths and its flow could not be hindered. As fairies, we bagged the crushed dust and took it everywhere with us. It had the power to heal wounds and perform such magic, not tricks, that only a magician could dream of in the natural world.

I looked back as I walked away from Fairyland and saw the towers of the palace covered with white roses beyond the high aquamarine-coloured walls. In the distance, animals hopped, crawled and galloped, and the wind swirled around me in various colours. Once our wind escapes into the natural world through an open portal, then it creates a rainbow in the sky of the human world.

I walked until I came to the forest, where the trees stood over my head like a canopy, blocking out the sunlight, the rays that escaped the foliage were like a balm of gold on my skin as I kept walking. Purple leaves fell at my feet, and pink brambles of wood broke under the weight of my one-hundred-and-twenty-pound body. Everything was colourful in Fairyland. I stood at the edge of the forest where the blue grass tilted downhill, running to the crystal streams that sliced the land into many pieces. The sun would be setting soon and a portal would open just at the crack of twilight. It only took a few moments to close, so I had to be there waiting. As the portal became only a dot in the atmosphere, I felt the magic massage my shoulders and pull at every knot of tension. It moved, slow and sensual through my body, prickling my system to transform. It punctured my soul and reached my heart, then slowly my wings of dark satin, absorbed into my red skin and my skin became coal black.

My green, long, hair, down to my bottom, curled all the way above my shoulders until it became thick, black curls that one would say were cut into a bob around the nape of my neck. Eyes of liquid pinkness became clear white and developed a dark, brown pupil where there was none before. My silken dress, spun by spider webs down to my ankles, now became a solid fabric of cotton, with one slit to my knees. The bag at my side was woollen and filled with fairy dust from the crushed pearls. I watched the sun vanish like a thief in the night and the dot became a slit of orange lipstick across the horizon until the slit touched the ground. I stepped into this orange light and crossed the threshold from the supernatural world into the natural.

My mission was to find the Vampire woman and her mate and then kill them both. My feet touched the cool green grass on the other side. Buildings were spread out before me as I watched from the hills that I had crossed. The sky was a sheet of black, covering the world, as night had already crept upon the human world. The portal shrunk behind me like a fungus that had cleared up off the skin, then it was gone. The way had closed and I walked down the hill with brown dirt kicked up by my feet. The birds sang to me and animals came out from hiding to watch me pass. Animals were always happy to see a fairy. They would hide away when a human approached, but they sensed our true nature, even if we appeared in human form. It was the fairy dust that healed an animal that was wounded to death and the creatures of the woodland rejoiced whenever we are in their presence.

The Vampire's name was Opal. Why did all creatures fear a woman with such a timid name?

I thought, making my way down the hill.

I had no idea why the fairies wanted her dead, fairies were such peaceful, loving creatures. It must be rather important why our King gave this decree and when our King gave out an order, we obeyed.

I had never been to the human world before, this was my first assignment. I was delighted to see the other world and it marvelled me so far, especially that the air was colourless. I was in a place called Mala, I knew this because portals only carried you to where you needed to be and the King had said I would find the Vampire and her lover in Mala. I could see a big wheel in the distance, turning at the skirted tail of water. I would have to find this Opal, that had so disturbed our peaceful existence, to a state of panic running throughout Fairyland. I knew only one thing.

The King had looked at me, and said simply.

"Buttercup, this is very important to our people. If the Vampires live, we die."

I needed to know nothing else then.

"I will go my King."

I had replied.