The Elf Girl (12 page)

I nodded silently, not knowing what to say. I fought back tears, trying to hold myself together, but it wasn’t easy. Addison, who I thought could help me through all of this, had just told me I was on my own. The realization was hard to accept, especially because I had no idea what to do now that I was here. I didn’t know how to find my sister, figure out my secret, or keep myself from being killed by Element fairies. I still had no idea why the earth fairy had saved me.

I knew absolutely nothing.

Noticing my despair, Addison took my hand and her voice softened as she said, “Ramsey, I went to the bridge because I detected a heightened level of magical energy there when I left the bookstore. You see, magical creatures can detect that sort of thing. If we are in an area where magic recently occurred, we can feel it. But I didn’t know what had truly happened there until now.”

“Thank you for clearing that up,” I said, swallowing a lump in my throat.

Addison nodded and didn’t speak for a few moments. She looked deep in thought.

“You should get some rest now,” she decided. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay,” I agreed, stifling a yawn.

“I know I’m not much help, but don’t let that get in your way, Ramsey. I know you can do this.”

“Do what, exactly?” I asked.

“Whatever it takes to figure out the real you, I guess,” she said.

Then Addison smiled, although I could tell it was forced, and started walking toward the door again. Just as she was about to leave, she turned and came back into my room.

“It could have been an elf, Ramsey,” she blurted.

“What?” I asked. I was exhausted, and I’d had about enough of her vague explanations.

“The Earth Man,” she explained further. “He could have been an elf. Some elves have element abilities. I go to school with an elfen whose ability is the element of air. He could have been an elf with an earth ability.”

“Why would he save me? Why was he there?” I asked.

Addison shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he is someone who knows Zora. Maybe he is one of the Queen’s scouts and he just happened to be in the same area.”

“How can you be sure?” I wondered.

“I’m not. But it makes a lot more sense for an elf to save you than an earth fairy, doesn’t it?” She looked at me kindly, but I could tell behind her smile lay just as much confusion as I felt.

I nodded, totally unconvinced. “I guess.”

“Okay, well, you should probably just forget about it for a while. It doesn’t make a difference who or what saved you, so long as you are still alive. Zora is the objective now, Ramsey. That is the reason you are here.” She gave me a quick hug. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I replied, a little dejected.

Then Addison left.

Alone, I pondered one thing I hadn’t mentioned to her. I remembered The Earth Man having dark brown hair. Even in the shadows, I had still been able to make out his every feature.

Since when did elves have brown hair?

They didn’t. Elves didn’t have brown hair. They had pale blonde or black hair. Addison was wrong. He couldn’t have been an elf. He had to have been an earth fairy. How would I prove that, though, without seeing him again? I had no idea.

And although I knew she meant well, I also knew that Addison would never have come looking for me if Zora hadn’t been taken. My purpose here, in Addison’s eyes, was to find my sister, not to find out my secret or anything else about me. Or, if she did care about me finding myself, it only came in second to Zora. But I wanted to achieve both. There had to be a way to accomplish all of those things.
There had to be.

I decided just then that I would
not
forget about the bridge or the Earth Man. I didn’t know why, but I felt it was important to know who he was, and why he had saved me. I wouldn’t rest until I knew.

And yes, I would find my sister. I would do everything I could to figure out where she was and bring her home safely.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t search for other things along the way.

However, I couldn’t do any of that tonight. Not yet, not after just getting here and learning this much so quickly and suddenly. I needed some time. One night and then I would devote myself to the tasks of finding my sister, learning my secret, and everything else I felt I needed to do.

Then I finally allowed myself to tear up. I had to relieve the building stress inside me. The tears were silent, washing down my cheeks slowly as I contemplated my situation. I was only crying because I was afraid, overwhelmed. I didn’t know how to proceed with anything, especially with Zora. Where would I even begin? I felt hollow and empty because of my lack of knowledge, but most of all, I felt alone. I missed Carmen, and I missed my parents. I even missed Dina, and that was saying something.

And yet, I knew that I was home. At least that was
some
comfort.

I wiped away the tears, reassured myself that I had made the right choice by coming here, and started to undress. I didn’t know if I should keep my old clothes or not and decided to put them in the wardrobe, where I found clothes of all different colors. But the common motif was obviously green and brown. Skirts, blouses, dresses, breeches, and shoes of all kinds cluttered the space. They all looked so different from the clothes in the Human Realm, but I wanted different. I craved different. This was the one chance I had to start my life over, and I wanted to do it right.

Wearing the nightgown, I slipped under the covers of my bed. Finally feeling warm and safe, I forgot about my worries for the moment. The one thing I wanted was rest. I needed to recharge before beginning the search for my sister…among other things.

I was just about to blow out the candle on the bedside table when I noticed something sticking out of one of Zora’s vanity drawers. I rolled out of bed and walked over to investigate, my curiosity getting the better of me. After a slight tug, the paper came free and I unfolded it. It was a note addressed to me:

When you are ready, come and see me.

-Blaire

I remembered Addison mentioning Blaire earlier and wondered what this meant. She must have left the note while she was cleaning, but what could she mean by
ready
? Below her name were directions to her home. It wasn’t too far from here. I decided to ask Addison about it in the morning. Right now, I was too tired to decide anything else. I had to sleep.

When I was once again warm and safe in my bed, I blew out the candle and closed my eyes. All traces of earlier tears gone, I reassured myself that no matter how difficult it was, no matter how long it took, I would accomplish all I set out to do. Somehow, I would get through this. I had been given this second chance for a reason, and I was determined to make the most of it.

Before sleep overtook me, I prayed silently to God, asking Him to keep Zora safe wherever she was, and to give me the strength I needed to figure out my life.

~5~
Journal

I didn’t really know how I could tell, but somehow I knew it was just past eleven when I woke up. Still nighttime – I remembered reading in the guidebook that elves only slept four hours each night. Obviously, Addison and the others hadn’t remembered that the rule applied to me as well. Nevertheless, I understood. It was hard enough for me to think of myself as an elfen. I acted like a human. I thought like a human. Except for my looks, I was still very human. I hoped I would become more elfen over time. Maybe then, this new situation would feel real to me, because right now everything still felt like a dream.

When I woke, I wasn’t fully rested, but I was unable to get back to sleep. My mind was going crazy again, rethinking all I had learned recently like a pop song on repeat. In a matter of hours, my life had changed dramatically, and I still hadn’t become accustomed to it all.

I tried to pass the night by looking around the house. Using candlelight to see, I began with my room, the one I used to share with my sister. I wanted to find out everything I could about her. If I was to find Zora, I needed to start by knowing her. I decided the best place to initiate my exploration would be her vanity drawers. I walked softly over to the vanity. I knew I was alone, but I felt the need to remain quiet. This place was still foreign to me, and I guessed still feeling cautious was wise. I wasn’t used to calling this my home yet. To me, my home was still back in Wisconsin. It would take some time for me to fully adjust.

The first drawer was filled with jewelry. Gems of all kinds peeked out at me: garnets, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, opals, and more. They were set in necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. I wondered if it was normal for elves to have such expensive adornments. Sure, my family in the Human Realm was wealthy, but this was different. The only person in our home who had ever splurged on jewelry or other accessories was Dina. My mother never was much of a spender and neither was I. I only spent money on books, or hair pins so I could cover my pointy ears with my hair. Unfortunately, that had never worked very well. At least I could cross hair pins off my shopping list from now on. Having pointy ears was the style here in the Elf Realm.

The next drawer held paper and a fountain pen. I remembered Addison retrieving paper from there. I wondered briefly if Zora wrote a lot, as in letters or journals.

Thinking of journals gave me an idea. If Zora had kept a journal, I could read it to find out more about her. It could give me an insight as to who she was, what kind of girl – I mean, elfen – she was before the fairies took her. Even though it would be an invasion of privacy, I knew there was no other way. If Zora had a journal, I needed to read it.

The third drawer didn’t open as easily as the others. I pulled and pulled, but it wouldn’t move an inch. I put both hands on the handle, both feet against the bottom of the vanity, and pulled with every ounce of strength I could muster. The drawer opened, but not without sending me flying across the room and onto Zora’s old bed. Winded for only a moment, I was soon on my feet again. I looked around for the drawer and found it lying upside down on the hardwood floor. Lifting it gently, I immediately noticed what I had hoped to find. I picked the leather book up and brought it over to my bed. In the warm candlelight, I opened the book and began to read. The title,
Zora’s Journal
, confirmed that I had my sister’s journal in my trembling hands. What I read below the title shocked me so much that for an instant I was breathless. Below Zora’s name were two words that were more powerful than I could have ever imagined.

“For Ramsey,” I read aloud to myself, my voice a quiet whisper.

Zora had written this journal for me! My heart began to race with unfamiliar emotion. A short inscription graced the next page:

Ramsey, I kept this journal for you. Read it and learn.

-your loving sister, Zora

Somehow, Zora had known or hoped that I would return to the Elf Realm. The thought sent chills down my spine. Just thinking that Zora could have predicted my return to the Elf Realm made me wonder just how involved my secret could be in her kidnapping, even in this war. What secret, I wondered, would cause my sister to believe she would be taken by the Element fairies, leading to my inevitable return?

I wasn’t getting anywhere with all these questions. I needed to slow down and read the journal. Zora had written it for me, so maybe it contained the answers I sought.

I took a deep breath to ready myself. My sister’s life was only a page away. A part of me didn’t want to know anything. I was afraid to know my sister, because then I might feel the same way as Addison. I was afraid of the pain I would experience, the feeling of loss. Reading this journal would make her real to me, and not just the elfen Addison spoke so fondly of.

I thought of turning the page like a Band-aid. Do it quickly and it would be easier. And so I began to read.

The journal described as much as Zora could remember about her life and about elves in general. I learned stuff that I hadn’t from the guidebook. I learned that elves went to bed around twelve at night and woke up at four to start their day. They never needed much sleep and rarely slept even the four hours.

Zora mostly wrote about her school life. Elf children went to school from age five to twelve, kind of like human children, except they didn’t call it kindergarten through sixth grade. At five, elves were first year students and at twelve, they were seventh year students. After that, elves didn’t go to school until they turned sixteen, when their powers came to them. Then they spent a year going to a special school from seven forty-five until noon. It sounded a lot simpler than being in high school for six hours a day.

From what I read, Zora loved her school days and was very popular among the other students. I noted the obvious difference between us.

As I read the description, I finally learned Zora’s power:

Elves call my power beautiful, but I’m not so sure. I think it is wrong and evil. I trick people with my voice. I make them hear something beautiful and when they listen, they fall asleep.

My power is the ability to sing beautifully. I have always been a good singer, but when I turned sixteen I became amazingly good. Then I realized it was my power. When I sing, whoever hears me goes into a trance or deep sleep. Only I can break the spell. Unless an elf has protected himself with a shield ability, he can never resist. The worst part is that I love singing. Now I can’t just sing when I want. If I do, all those around me will go into the trance. My power is a nightmare and a curse to me…

My heart ached for my sister. Her power was remarkable, but also extremely difficult for her to control. Elves loved to sing; I knew that much from reading the guide. I didn’t know what I would do if I couldn’t sing. I didn’t know how I would be able to handle it if my power kept me from doing something I loved.

Then I found myself asking, “Why couldn’t Zora just sing the fairies that took her to sleep?”