X Marks the Faerie

I was exhausted. Kysha had me driving all over town to gather the necessary ingredients for her spell. I was starting to wonder if all of this was even going to work and perhaps I've gone mad. Certainly, if I was going to go mad, I might as well go all the way. I thought to myself. Mom didn't even seem to react normally when I told her I was going to be gone for a few days with a random girl.

She eyed her suspiciously for a second but her face softened somewhat and she almost appeared to have a look of lust for Kysha. I was thoroughly grossed out but I gladly took the money mom offered me.

After that, I packed some clothes and threw a few snacks into my backpack and off to town we went. Now here I sit in the middle of the forest outside of town, wearing a locket round my neck with a dried sprig of foxglove in it. Supposedly, it created a faerie glow so I would be able to enter into her world with ease.

Also, we had fern seed which we had rubbed on our eyelids and mistletoe so she could activate the spell. At the moment, she was standing several feet away from me, whispering to the mistletoe that she held delicately in her hands.

She kind of looked like a crazy woman and I wanted to laugh at her but I knew better. I was definitely afraid of offending her. "Is there anything you want me to do at the moment." I asked as I looked to the sky. The sun was setting and soon the dark would be upon us. She stopped whispering and looked at me.

"Gather some stones, make a circle with them and build a fire in the center of it." She ordered. "Yes master." I said half-jokingly.

It took me a while to gather the stones up. Then building the fire was challenging. "Are you serious?" I said as I looked at the small stone in my hand and the stick I was rubbing against the stone. "It always works in the movies." I muttered. I was irritated, and hot. "I can't make a fire." I said and stood. Kysha raised a brow. "Really? You call yourself a man." She taunted. I glared. "I never said I was a man!" Then I stopped. I just insulted myself.

She laughed hysterically while I stood, arms crossed, and huffed. She stopped and smiled. "Alright. Watch me." She said and went and grabbed what looked like hay. I knew there was no hay around here so I was quite curious as to where she got to hay, but I was quiet.

She found a stick and cracked it in half. The inside was extremely dry so it would be easy to start a fire. She dug a little hole and lay the split stick over the hole. She lay the hay looking stuff on top of the split stick and took the stick I had from me and started rubbing it between her hands. Within five minutes, I saw the smoke and then a small flicker of flame. She had started a fire, and she didn't even have to try!

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. I was embarrassed for the simple fact that she could make a fire and I couldn't. It was embarrassing for a woman to beat me at something. She smirked and stood. "So uh, there's the fire. I hope you learned something." She continued to taunt me.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "If I had seen the hay, I could've totally made the fire. How the heck did you just 'casually' find it?" I inquired.

"In the forest, a faerie is at home with her surroundings. I could find a fish in a tree if I felt the need." She bragged.

She then went back to whispering to her mistletoe. Rolling my eyes, I flopped down next to the fire. The growing heat felt good against my skin since it was starting to get a little nippy as it got darker. The flames almost seemed to form shapes and dance for me as I gazed into them.
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I jumped up suddenly. It appears I had fallen asleep. The fire was burning higher than ever. I didn't hear Kysha muttering anymore. I looked around for her. "Kysha!" I yelled. "Shhh." She hissed closely behind my head.

I then felt her arms wrap around me, almost as if to protect me from something unknown. "Be very still. It's almost upon us. Watch..." She whispered gently in my ear. I strangely felt aroused by this. I definitely had the hots for her and right now, I would gladly rub any strange plant on my body if she so told me to. Interrupting my thoughts, the fire made a slight hissing sound. It startled me which made Kysha hold me tighter.

The fire continued hissing and got louder with each passing second. Suddenly, the flames rose up several feet high and fell back down. In fact, they not only went down, it seemed they totally went out. Surprised I broke free of her grasp on me to look at what happened. It was eerily darker in the spot where the fire was supposed to be. I pulled the flashlight out of my back pack and pointed it at the stones.

"What in the world??!" I exclaimed. There was a hole in place of the fire with stairs leading into the earth.

I was baffled. I rubbed my eyes and pinched myself just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I looked back at Kysha and she smiled and shook her head. She walked towards the hole. She was looking around her to check and see if anyone was watching us and looked back at me. Her look made me get serious.

She had the look of fear in her eyes, and I could tell that she was nervous. "Gaylen. Listen to me. This is extremely important. You have to stay near me, and you cannot speak unless addressed. Don't eat or drink anything here either. Also, don't ask questions, just do as you're told. Please, for your own sake, don't say anything that will put them off." She said and then I nodded. "Okay. This is obviously important to you. I will behave, though I'm not sure what I could say that could possibly insult them."

I did come off as a smartass just then, but it was in my nature. She glared at me and I put my hands up in surrender. She huffed and turned around to face the hole once again. I grabbed the supplies and she grabbed my hand.

We then proceeded to the hole. We both looked in and took the first step into the Earth. I was actually going to travel, to the center of the Earth, or at least that was how it felt. She tightened her grip as we continued down. I could hear, and feel my heart pound as we done so.

I was excited and afraid at the same time, and I was comfortable with that feeling. And so, down the rabbit hole we went.