THE FAERIE OF CENTRAL PARK
By Minimizer
Chapter 17
Kyle was nervous. Much to his surprise, the reporter had come right over. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy to convince someone to believe him, but this guy, Travis something-or-other, was positively bouncing off the walls.
Travis had interviewed Kyle briefly, taking a couple of notes, and then they talked about how to proceed. The reporter, naturally, wanted to barge right into Dave’s apartment, but that wasn’t Kyle’s plan. He was afraid of how Dave would react to such an intrusion. If he had really been charmed, he might get violent. Instead, Kyle suggested he try to talk his way inside, without Travis around. There was no way Dave would let a reporter into the apartment, of that he was certain.
Travis didn’t like this idea at all. He wanted to be there to see the fairy for himself. However, after a bit of arguing, he decided to give it a shot. However, he still wanted proof, so he installed a tiny camera on Kyle’s shirt. It looked just like a normal button, but had a wire that led to a power-pack at his waist. It would transmit images back to the laptop computer Travis set up in Kyle’s apartment. The range wasn’t long, but he was sure it would work anywhere in the building.
Kyle didn’t like the idea of spying on his friend, but Travis insisted. Without some kind of evidence, he said, he was just wasting his time. Resignedly, Kyle agreed and tested out the camera, which provided surprisingly good images for such a tiny device.
All that was left now was to go to Dave’s apartment and get close to the fairy. He went down the hall and knocked, trying not to seem too nervous or agitated.
“Who is it?” demanded Dave’s voice from inside.
“It’s Kyle,” he answered, reciting the speech he’d already prepared. “Look, I just wanted to apologize. I’ve been thinking about it and it was a cruel thing to do. I just wasn’t thinking of her as a person, okay?”
There was no response for several long seconds, and Kyle started to wonder if Dave was even listening. Finally, he heard footsteps approaching, and then the door opened. Kyle did his best to look regretful.
“Are you for real?” Dave asked from the doorway. “Are you really sorry about what you did?”
Kyle hung his head. “Yeah,” he said as remorsefully as possible. “I just didn’t know.”
“Tell you what,” Dave said after a moment, “if you really are sorry, come in here and tell her yourself. She’s the one you really owe an apology to, anyway.”
“But I thought she couldn’t understand people,” Kyle protested, but it was a loaded comment. He wanted to find out if Dave really could communicate with her.
“I can talk to her,” he explained. “I’ll have to translate, but she’ll be able to read your meaning, so make it count.”
“All right,” Kyle said, deciding not to press for too much more information. He followed Dave into the apartment and over to the kitchen table.
Tilly gasped in fear when she saw Kyle, and started looking for a place to hide, but Dave put up a hand to stop her. “It’s all right,” he told her quickly. “He’s here to apologize, aren’t you, Kyle?”
“Yeah,” he answered sheepishly, but he positioned himself so he was sure the button-camera faced the tiny woman. “Look, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know you were real. I won’t try to hurt you again, I promise.”
Dave repeated the words, and Tilly considered them for a moment, glancing back at Kyle doubtfully. Finally she replied, her voice a strange, unintelligible singsong. “She accepts your apology,” Dave translated, “but she thinks it’s best if you just keep your distance. I can’t blame her, either, after what you did.”
“All right, I can accept that,” Kyle replied, but inwardly he felt relieved. He was sure he’d pointed the camera at her properly. There was no chance the reporter could have missed seeing her.
Kyle looked down at Tilly again, intending to say something more, but she didn’t wait. Her wings buzzing, she lifted off from the tabletop and flew past him. Startled, Kyle turned to watch, making sure the camera was on her as she headed down the hallway and into Dave’s room. There, she alighted on the potted plant and began to sing quietly, her distant voice barely audible.
“Hey, I said I was sorry,” Kyle called out to her, but she didn’t return.
“Look,” Dave said, taking Kyle back towards the front door, “I’m as human as the next man, and can appreciate that you let your testosterone run away with you, but this is not some slutty bimbo we’re talking about. Tilly is as real as you or I am, and what you did was pretty close to rape. She was helpless, and you traumatized her. It’s gonna be a while before she or I can really forgive you.”
“Tilly,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “Is that her name or did you make one up?”
“It’s not her real name. I couldn’t pronounce that, it was more like a song than words. Tilly is as close as I can get.”
“All right, then how is it you two can understand each other? When you talk, I hear you just fine, and she understands you too, but she can’t follow what I’m saying. How is that possible?”
Dave sighed. “Magic,” he explained, knowing how silly that must have sounded. “It translates for us when we talk to each other. Hey, don’t look at me like I’m crazy! She’s a faerie. If you can believe that, you should be able to believe in magic, too.”
“Fair enough,” shrugged Kyle. “I guess I should be going, then. I really am sorry, Dave.”
“Yeah, I know. Just go. I’ll call you next week or something.”
Kyle started out the door, then hesitated. When he’d come to the door, he had been nervous, but felt that what he was doing was right. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He felt bad for some strange reason. Maybe it would be better if he leveled with Dave just a bit, at least tried to talk to him. Without the fairy around, maybe he could drive some sense into his thick skull.
“Dave, wait,” Kyle said, just as Dave was about to shut the door behind him. “I need to ask you something. Did she cast any spells on you or anything weird like that?”
“Just he translator,” Dave answered. “So far as I know, anyway. Why?”
“It’s just that you’re acting real strange,” replied Kyle. “Ever since she showed up you’ve been distracted, and the way you came rushing home to her earlier--”
“Just what are you insinuating?” Dave demanded.
“Well, it’s just that--well, I don’t know how to say this, but--”
“What? Just spit it out, already!”
“She might have hit you with some kind of love spell,” Kyle managed. “There, I said it, okay? You’re not acting like yourself at all. You’re acting like you’re in love with her, but I know that’s not really possible, unless she charmed you or something.”
Dave felt his anger rising. “You’re crazy!” he hissed. “There’s no way Tilly would have done that, and I’m not in love with her anyway. She’s a fairy, for God’s sake! Now get the hell out of here before I say something I’ll regret.”
“All right, all right! I’m going. Just think about what I said, and if you need any help, you know where I am.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Dave replied, slamming the door.
Kyle’s shoulders slumped and he headed back towards his apartment. It had been the right thing to do, he knew, but now he felt worse than before.
Inside, Dave leaned against the wall, listening to Kyle’s footsteps receding into the distance. After a while they faded, and he found he could just make out Tilly’s song coming from his bedroom. As before, it started to work its way into his mind, but this time he shook it away.
His mind was suddenly awhirl with doubts. He wanted to reject what Kyle had said, but it hit uncomfortably close to home. Stepping back, he took a distant view of himself over the past twenty-four hours. Since finding Tilly, he had indeed not been himself. The faerie had been virtually the only thing on his mind. When was the last time he’d gone through an entire day at work and accomplished so little? Or won the football pool and felt no sense of victory? Normally he’d have lorded his win over his colleagues, but he’d taken the money with barely a comment.
What if she really had bewitched him somehow? It could have been the song, he realized. She had started singing almost immediately after waking up. Even that first time, it had penetrated his mind like a knife into his flesh. What if she’d spent the whole night singing her magic into his brain?
Vaguely, he remembered waking up that morning with the strangest sensation running through him. He struggled to remember it, but couldn’t. He knew he’d dreamed about Tilly, but it was more than that. It was like he could feel her presence. Had she invaded his dreams somehow?
Kyle was also right about the call for help. He had felt her danger, all the way across town. The link between them was more than simply for communication. Could she read his thoughts? Was she controlling him somehow, when she wanted to? What was the extent of her magic?
He went into the living room and sat down, shaking his head. This is all just paranoia, he tried to tell himself. He knew Tilly, he insisted. She would never do such a thing! But what did he really know? If she had charmed him with that first song, everything that had happened since then could have been another illusion, like the experience in the chair.
That can’t be true, he told himself. It just can’t!