The Death Fairy

Twenty years in the force and you think you’ve seen it all. That was until tonight when they brought in the blonde. When I interviewed her, she kept looking over my shoulder, her green eyes unblinking. I’d seen some characters in my time as detective constable, but this one was different. This one was convinced that Fairies were out to get at her.

“Sarah,” I said, rubbing the tiredness of a ten hour shift from my eyes, “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

Sarah leaned back in her chair, her cute face breaking into a forced smile. She caught me off guard as my name rolled from her lush red lips. “Peter, when did you stop believing in fairies?”

I shook my head. When the boys listened to this tape in the office, they’d have some fun. “When I was five, I suppose.” I pushed the evidence bag across the table, keeping my hand on it. Inside were a number of bags containing white powder that would have to be sent to the lab for further analysis. She didn’t look like a druggy, or much like a dealer; too pretty to be involved in that side of things.

“For the benefit of the tape, I am showing Sarah a quantity of small bags with white powder in. What is it, Sarah?”

Sarah looked down at the bags, her tongue licking her lips hungrily. Her gaze of pure green bore into me and her smile faded. “It’s Faerie dust, Peter. I gathered it from them, so I can see. There’s one at your shoulder now, digging claws into you and wrapping its wings around you.”

I shuddered and glanced over my shoulder. Nothing there. There was no point going further with this, so I cut the interview short. The labs would take a look at the substance and I’d bail the girl until the results. If it turned out to be nothing but washing powder, she’d be free to go and be insane wherever she wanted. To tell the truth, I was unnerved by her declaration that a thing was sinking claws into me. Last night I had dreamt of a creature on my back that I couldn’t see and woke in a cold sweat, convinced I had heard the beating of wings. Then there were the dark shapes I caught moving just in the corner of my vision that vanished when I turned. I put it down to tiredness.

It was late by the time I left the station and made my way home. The streets were deserted and I hurried along, wrapping my coat up around my face to fight a chill wind. Cold, I stuck my hands into my pocket and felt something in there. I brought it out and stared at the evidence bag that I had forgotten to put back into property. The white powder seemed to glitter under the light of the moon and I quickly stuffed it into my pocket, promising myself I would put it back tomorrow and hope I wasn’t stopped in possession. Too close to retirement to go down for something so silly.

“Peter.”

I froze as the voice drifted from the alley. Turning, I saw a red glow of a cigarette hanging from a mouth of lush red lips. Sarah stepped towards me, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Startled, I took a few steps back. “What are you doing here?”

Sarah shrugged, regarding me silently as she drew on her cigarette. She blew the smoke out and I watched it swirl around her. “They released me on bail, so I guess I’m free for now.”

“You shouldn’t be talking to me,” I muttered, angry that I had allowed her to startle me. I made to go. “And you shouldn’t smoke, it’s bad for you.”

“I’ll take my chances. Don’t you want to know about the dust?”

That caused me to stop. I turned to her, trying to work her out. Could I trust her and could she trust me? “We’ll find out when the results are back.”

A car drove by and Sarah slunk back into the shadows of the alley. “No you won’t,” she said. “But I can tell you everything I couldn’t tell you in interview. I’ll tell you things that will make you see life in a new way.”

Her words had me captivated and her pretty young face ignited a desire within. Against my better judgement, I agreed to go for a drink with her and we ended up in a pub down a quiet road where it wasn’t trees that lined the streets, but overflowing rubbish bins. Sarah had a glass of water, so did I, but in mine I had a shot of whiskey. No one from the station would drink in this dive, but I kept glancing nervously around just in case.

“What’s this all about then? All that stuff about Fairies was nonsense, right?”

Sarah leaned across the table towards me. She whispered, “It’s all true, Peter. We are enslaved by creatures that exist all around us, yet cannot see.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, though it was partly through nerves. This was going way beyond what I should be doing, yet the woman captivated me. “You’re a conspiracy theorist then?”

Sarah laughed, but her wide green eyes kept shifting around, looking at something behind me. “Creatures with wings, seven foot tall with sharp talons and dagger like teeth. They’ve been called Angels, Demons, even Aliens. They have always been Fairy, long before those other names. Look at them in art, literature and you’ll see just how long they’ve been with us.”

I took a gulp of whiskey and enjoyed the burn. Against my better judgement, I decided to go with it. “So what do they want of us?”

Sarah played with her packet of cigarettes that betrayed her fear as much as those wide green eyes. “They feed on those with tumours. Angel statues in graveyards are actually depictions of fairies because they are always around death. Graveyards are breeding grounds to them.”

“I always thought fairies were gentle beings that lived at the bottom of gardens.”

Sarah sighed. “Fairy tales are just that: tales. These beings can influence our thoughts, whisper into our ears as we sleep and spin false tales about themselves.” Her eyes looked me up and down hungrily. “Do you have the dust?”

I stopped my hand from patting my pocket and shook my head. “It’s back at the station. What is it?”

Sarah bit her lip and her arms wrapped around her body and she shivered visibly. “It’s dust from their wings. It allows us to see what they’re up to. I hate not being able to see where they are.”

The girl clearly had issues, and I realised that I should never have gone for a drink with her. Twenty years in the force and I was acting like a probationer, making stupid mistakes. Glancing around the pub, I saw a few faces looking back at me and I thought I recognised some of them; probably arrested half of them at some point in my career. Looking back to Sarah, I saw my entire career fall apart. I got to my feet, telling her this had been a bad idea.

“One thing,” I said. “You said you could see a fairy wrapped around me?”

Sarah shrugged. “Does that worry you?”

I thought about that stubborn cough that wouldn’t seem to go. “If it’s all true, then I guess I should be worried.”

Sarah got to her feet and gave me a pitiful look. “Watch your back, Peter,” she said, grabbing her coat. As she left, she lit up a cigarette and looked over her shoulder. “I guess I should give up,” she said, “but what would be the point?”

For a long while I stood in the pub, staring at the space Sarah had occupied. A sudden coughing fit took hold of me and I gasped for air. Grabbing the back of the chair, I got myself under control and hurried to the toilet, throwing the door to a cubicle open and locking it behind. The click of the lock was reassuring and I reached into my pocket. Pulling out the evidence bag, I held it up and examined the contents. The powder had a gentle glow, like moonlight. Curious, I ripped the bag open and took out one of the smaller bags. As I held it between my fingers, I saw my career slipping away from me. But I could also see my death looming. If I took some and found that it was nothing, perhaps this cough was just a cold that I couldn’t shake.

“What the hell,” I muttered. Wetting my finger, I put it in the bag and took some of the white powder. Licking it, I waited for the effects but after a few moments, I realised I felt nothing. I dumped the open bag down the toilet and placed the rest in my pocket. I’d sort out resealing the evidence bag tomorrow. I left the cubicle and went to the basin where I splashed water on my face. Looking up, I stared at my reflection in the dirty mirror and jumped back.

Staring back at me were two red eyes from a winged creature wrapped around my neck. It’s sharp teeth snarled at me, then sunk back into my chest as great wings fluttered open and shut behind. Stumbling away from the mirror, I ran from the toilets and into the pub. Looking around, I saw three other winged creatures clamped onto the backs of some old men in a corner. Another creature hovered near the ceiling, watching from the shadows like a hunter. It looked at me and grinned.

When I burst out into the cold night, I kept running as fast as I could, seeing winged creatures fluttering around me. Ahead of me was Sarah and I called out to her. She stopped, turned and faced me. The creature clamped to her chest fluttered its wings and Sarah smiled hopelessly.

Around me, the night came alive with winged creatures.