It Wasn't Meant To Turn Out Like This

Normally, only well-to-do families owned fairy slaves. For the most part, fairy slaves were expensive and much more than most middle-class families could afford. Also, fairies could not always be depended on to keep a steady mind. Scientists worked around the clock trying to understand the behavior of fairies better, but there was still a whole lot that humans had to learn about the new species they now shared a planet with. Some fairy slaves had been known to snap and kill the whole family unexpectedly. Fairies in general were petite and looked harmless, but when angered, they turned into vicious monsters. The fairy slave would be executed, of course, for such a crime, but the species was still mostly unpredictable and strange.

Brian Haner Jr., therefore, had been extremely surprised when his father came home one evening with a petite female fairy in tow. He didn’t even know the Haner family had been in the financial position to own a fairy slave anyway. His father had explained that the fairy would be a huge help to the family. He had also demanded that the entire family treat her with respect and dignity. She was a member of the family and an equal, and if any of them treated her any other way, they would receive an earful and probably some time grounded.

“I don’t even know why humans decided enslaving the fairies would be a good idea,” Matt said a couple of days after Brian Sr. arrived home with a fairy slave for the family. Brian had yet to tell his friends about the family fairy. The group of friends sat in the school’s center courtyard eating lunch.

“Would you rather have them running free, wrecking havoc and killing everyone?” Jimmy asked. “I’ve heard plenty of stories about fairy slaves who went on killing sprees and just murdered everyone in sight until they were killed. If humans hadn’t captured them, that would be everywhere. There would be no peace, just murders and blood and fear.”

“I just don’t think enslaving the fairies had been a good idea,” Matt replied calmly. “Humans could’ve done the diplomatic approach. We could be working with the fairies trying to open up the portal that connected our dimensions, rather than enslaving them and making a profit from them.”

“It’s funny you bring the subject up,” Brian said. “Just a couple of days ago, my dad just came home from work with a fairy slave.”

The group fell silent, staring at Brian in shock. None of them had ever thought of Brian Sr. as being one to buy a slave.

“That’s exactly what we looked like when he stepped in with a fairy walking behind him,” Brian continued. “He said he’d been considering buying one—a cheaper one, of course. He thinks having a fairy slave will help Mom out a lot with the housework and such. But we must respect her and treat her as an equal.”

“I’d be scared not to,” Jimmy commented, breaking the silence that had fallen across Brian’s small knot of friends. “Have you ever seen one of those fuckers mad? They look like demons with butterfly wings, honestly.”

“Even before all that began happening, when the fairies were first being enslaved, Dad was talking about how everyone should treat them with respect and dignity,” Brian said with a shake of his head. “I agree with him. I’m sure all those families who got killed by their fairies treated them like shit.”

“Is the fairy a chick or guy?” Zacky asked. The group was slowly beginning to lose their shock as curiosity took over.

“Female,” Brian answered. “Dad said that guy fairies are normally used in labor situations—sold to factories as cheap labor or to farmers. Female fairies are usually sold to private homes.”

“Is she one of those grumpy, bad-tempered ones?” Jimmy asked.

“No, she’s actually really quiet,” Brian explained. “She’s only about four feet, eleven inches tall with huge butterfly wings sticking out of her spine. She has dark purple hair that is almost violently curly. Her eyes are hot pink, but there are no whites, so her entire eye is hot pink.”

“And her name is...?” Matt asked.

“Well, Dad said she’d been given a number for the auction,” Brian answered. “When Dad got home, he asked her what her name actually was because he hadn’t been told. At first, she just said her name in her native tongue. The fairy language is really weird—it’s a mix of trills, hums, and clicks. But once she struggled to translate it as best she could, she came up with Mayza.”

“So, she speaks English then?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, all fairies have to learn English before they’re sold,” Brian answered with a nod.

“And how did everyone else react to her?” Matt asked.

“McKenna instantly doted on her,” Brian answered with a roll of his eyes. “I think all she sees when she looks at Mayza is a little sister slash life-size Barbie doll. Suzy thought she was the ‘most adorable little thing’ she’d ever saw and Brent and I were just indifferent.”

“Is she one of the ugly ones?” Zacky asked.

Brian shook his head. “She’s actually really pretty. Dad said that most of the women at the auction were very pretty.”

“How old is she?” Johnny asked.

“Well, fairy ages are different than human ones,” Brian answered. “It’s sort of like dog years, except there are, like, five human years to one fairy year. They live much longer than humans do. But physically, she’s as mature as we are about. We’re sort of the same age as she is.”

“We must meet her,” Matt insisted. All the guys agreed.

“Tonight, then,” Brian said. “We might as well get her used to you crazy fucks early on.”