The Strangers of Precedent

Syren opened Bobbi’s door slightly. She’d begun checking on Bobbi every morning, just to assure herself she was there, as if that helped last time. She just needed to know she did something.

Bobbi wasn’t there.

The first time this happened, she panicked. Now she knew better: There were possibilities.

She hid in her room, watching herself in the mirror as she slightly pulled at the front of her blouse, and a black jacket rippled from those two points down to her arms.

“Thanks, dad.”

Her father’s journals had shown her that some changelings stored an entire wardrobe in themselves, and only recently had she read that the pieces didn’t need to be pulled out of bare skin.

She would need to tell her parents that she’d hit puberty soon, but right now she had to take care of Bobbi.

“I’m going to the library to check if Bobbi pulled an all-nighter!” she announced as she left.

Actually the first place she was going to check was Frank’s house to see if she’d spent the night with Drake, but no one needed to know that was an actual possibility, they would misconstrue it like Syren did the first time.

She gave a quick and barely audible knock before opening the door.

Drake was awake at 10 am for some reason.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Syren asked, concerned.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he explained, “So I’m cleaning.”

“Are you not sleeping because Bobbi’s passed out in your bed?” Syren asked, stepping inside.

He sat down on the barely cleared couch.

“She hates me now.”

“What?”

“I told her I loved her, slip of the tongue, but of course eventually it would come out.”

Right, Drake had a crush on Bobbi. Bobbi didn’t believe in attraction in the first place, and seemed really uncomfortable with the prospect of Drake having feelings for her.

“I told her I would rather things stay as they were, but apparently I’m not the first friend to admit their feelings to her. She acted like I chose this.”

“Well duh, she doesn’t believe attraction is real.”

The look of confusion was probably at the insanity of Bobbi’s beliefs, but in his state of near exhaustion, it could really be from anything.

“Should I lie to her then?” he asked, “Do I just leave after the brotherhood is dealt with and lose my new home too?”

“Aww, you consider this place home.”

He groaned.

“I should go to sleep.”

“Very true.”

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Bobbi wasn’t in bed this morning, so I’m checking to make sure no one’s kidnapped her.”

“Kidnapped!” Drake stood up.

“This isn’t my last stop,” Syren said, “Go to bed. You’re no use to her this exhausted.”

Drake scowled.

“She wouldn’t want me around anyways.”

“If she’s actually kidnapped, she’d be pissed off you’d thought that.”

Syren slammed the door, and walked not a very long way to Sebastien Tyrain’s house. Here she knocked a little louder. Singe opened the door for her.

“Bobbi’s not here,” she noted, turning around.

“Like she’s gone?” Singe asked.

“Maybe, but I just meant she’s not at your house. You would have told me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you know I’d be looking for her, and have no reason to hide her. You’re not worried people think you’re her boyfriend, though I’ve heard some people say you are.”

“What, why?”

“You’re attractive, she’s pretty, and you hang out together. It doesn’t take much for an assumption to form.”

“Why am I attractive and not pretty?”

“Is that really your problem with those rumors?”

Singe shrugged.

“Want an escort in your search?”

It was better than nothing.

“I’m heading to the library next, then Sarah’s place.”

“If it’s a secret location in the woods, do we really need to call her Sarah?”

It wasn’t the worst logic.

“That’s not relevant right now,” Syren said, “We can ask her when we get there.”

No one questioned their place on campus, even though Syren hadn’t enrolled yet. She could afford to wait, and she wanted a plan for her life first. It felt weird to actually be the same age as many of the people on campus though.

Singe opened the door to the library for her, and they both took a moment to look around. No sign of Bobbi, so they went to Thoth.

“Did Bobbi—”

“No, she didn’t even come for her shift last night.”

“Why didn’t you sound the alarm?” Singe asked.

“Charmer is searching for her, and Franklin’s been informed.”

“Drake hasn’t,” Syren said, “And we didn’t know until this morning.”

“I mean no offense Syren, but there isn’t much you can do to help. Singe is not of our circle, and Mr. Drake is ineffective until sundown.

In a vacuum, Thoth would be right. Changeling abilities had little to do with tracking, and she didn’t have the skills for a valuable disguise, but more than a changeling, she was an Eves.

“I’ll check my notes,” she said, turning fast enough to feel important.

The first thing Bobbi noticed when she came to was that she was wearing a dress, and not one she’d made. As she tried to check what it was made out of, she realized her hands were tied behind her, and her feet were tied to a chair.

“Don’t worry, we had the womenfolk dress you, and you are in the company of gentlemen,” some man with a drawl said. As Bobbi stared at him, she could tell the material of his uniform was old enough to be original. The man had blue eyes, and his brown beard had streaks of gray. Bobbi stopped at the three stars on his collar.

“The General, I presume.”

He smiled.

“I heard you were a clever thing,” he stepped closer, “But that won’t help you here.”

“If this is about my blood, it’s only fair to tell you I’m not even human, so I can’t really be pure.” She hoped the implication of air-quotes was understood.

He stepped closer.

“Sometimes you need to join the pigs to get your hands on a delicacy,” he skimmed the back of his finger on her wing. Why hadn’t she realized her wings were out? There was nothing they could give her that would leave her this out of it.

“Did you just compare me to a truffle?” she asked.

She couldn’t find any living plants anywhere near her, and she couldn’t sense everything else like she normally could. Not to mention without her clothes, there was no getting anything out of her pockets.

“So why am I a delicacy?”

The general took a long sniff, eyes widening.

“That sweetness marks a special power, or so I’m told, and if we tap into that power, we can control this territory, and any other territory we want. Even the Aegis Court would have to bend the knee.”

“And who told you that?”

“A reliable source.”

“I seriously doubt anyone who’d talk to you without being forced to is reliable.”

He slapped her. Luckily she turned with it enough to keep her jaw in position, but her cheek stung.

“I am neither of your escorts, and the only reason I am keeping you in one piece is that you may be the golden goose.”

Singe and Drake.

“And what makes you think they’ll let you get away with this? You haven’t succeeded in any endeavor against my friends and I since you got here. You’re as stupid as the lost cause you pride yourselves in, you lazy, racist, pieces of shit!”

The general smirked, bringing his face close to hers.

“The only reason I won’t draw your blood for that comment is that your friends are exactly who I’m waiting for. They will suffer my vengeance, and you will provide the tools.”

She spat in his eye.

“Shit was too kind, at least shit is useful.”

“Just why are you aching for a beating, little girl?”

She probably smelled less like herself with the new clothes, but Drake had to have known the scent of her blood by now. Even if he didn’t find her in time, the Brotherhood usually killed their victims, and she’d rather die than be a resource for them.

“I have nothing better to do than speak my mind, big boy.”

Vlad was still exhausted, especially with the afternoon sun blazing through the trees, but he wasn’t going to stand idly by while Bobbi was in trouble.

“Here it is,” Syren said, “Proof Bobbi doesn’t believe in attraction: ‘It’s all kinda made up, isn’t it? You like being around someone, so you assume that means you have to be in love or something, do the taboo tango together. It’s just societal pressure bullshit. You don’t need to do any of that, and the moment you assume you have to, it ruins everything.’”

Syren looked proud of herself for finding it.

“The taboo tango?” Singe asked.

“She means sex, probably.”

“I got that. It’s just a weird way of saying it.”

“I’ve heard your uncle use the term ‘shared pleasures’ as a euphemism before.”

“‘Slept together’ is a weird one too.”

“Can we stop talking about hypothetical intimacy?” Vlad asked.

“Intimacy,” they both said.

“Does this help with finding Bobbi at all?”

Syren returned to her notes.

“We could check the Bobbi tree,” Syren offered, “That’s actually what I was looking for.” She pulled a folded piece of paper from the opened page and handed it to Singe.

Singe carefully opened it, revealing a map in Bobbi’s hand. Vlad could see the tree that smelled like Bobbi, as well as the vampire cave, and Sarah’s home.

“Why is this tree the Bobbi tree?” Singe asked.

“We think she was born from it,” Vlad revealed.

“She was born on Earth?” Singe asked.

“You don’t seem surprised about the tree thing.”

“The Elanoreis were born from a ship’s mast, the remnants of a campfire, the wall of a cavern, a hoard of gold, and a cloud if legends are to be believed. That’s just how fey work.”

“Who the fuck are the Elanoreis?” Vlad asked.

“The legendary sisters that are children of the Mordred Elanorei, a revered feyrie,” Singe sounded confused they didn’t know about this, “They’re some of the most revered figures in history.”

“Mage history.”

Singe watched both of them.

“I never want to hear anything about Australia ever again.”

“Earth doesn’t keep itself secret from you!”

They continued to bicker until the reached the tree. Singe’s eyes went wide.

“That’s a pomegranate tree,” Singe said.

“No it isn’t,” Syren said.

“Not your pomegranates. There’s one near the cave my mentor lives. This species of tree is from Magek, from Feyla!”

“Feyla?”

“The world Magek is in. We’re just one continent.” Singe turned back to the tree, “If there was ever any doubt she was a feyrie…”

“It was only from you,” Vlad said, “We’ve been under that assumption since June.”

“It gets weirder, too,” Syren gestured to the abandoned house.

Singe’s eyes widened again.

“A stoneborn.”

“Why have we been struggling with all of this when you seem to know everything about fey?” Vlad asked.

“Bobbi hasn’t really wanted to talk to me.”

“Maybe she would have been more amenable if you’d offered information.” Syren muttered, searching back through her journal again.

Vlad looked at the tree again. This was the last place Bobbi had been happy with him.

“She’s not here,” he admitted, “Shall we try the cave next?”

“The cabin,” Syren remembered.

“What cabin?”

“The cabin the Brotherhood took Peter and I to.”

They’d never checked back there. It might not be reliable, but it could be a clue.

“If the Brotherhood caught her,” Singe said, “They’d fortify the place where we didn’t kill any of them and keep Bobbi in some sort of lockdown.”

“We don’t even know what fey blood will do to them. From mages it makes us drunk, but its not like we get the full effects of anything when we drink mage blood.”

“Except celestial blood.”

“It takes more to kill us that way.”

“We don’t know if they actually want to drink her,” Syren said, “She could just be a threat to remove, in which case they might not be keeping her at all.”

No, Bobbi couldn’t be dead. After everything that happened she couldn’t just get killed by the Brotherhood.

“Let’s tell Charmer about the cabin,” Singe said, “Something tells me we can’t wait until its sundown and Drake can sniff her out.”

Vlad broke a small branch off the Bobbi tree. If they hit sundown before finding her, it would be smart to refresh her scent in his memory.

“No matter what happens, we will find her.”

Bobbi needed to practice with her wings more. She tried to move them to cut at the ropes, but mostly made ineffectual flutters. She also concentrated on the idea of shrinking her wrists for several minutes before giving up on that plan.

She made a point of not watching any of her captors because any time she looked at one of their faces they looked back with hunger in their eyes. The only protection she had was that the general had decided she was some kind of special treat for him alone, but she was still food.

The door slammed open, making her flinch. Whoever it was moved carefully and sat in front of Bobbi. When he lifted her face, she saw it was the general again.

“I was prepared to negotiate for you,” he said, “You were worth stepping away from this place for now.”

“This would feel more flattering if I wasn’t a food source for you.”

“That’s not all you have to be. We treat our womenfolk kindly.”

Bobbi made a gagging sound.

“Are you flirting with me?”

“I’m making you an offer to not be so miserable in our company.”

“Hard pass, asshole. Between any of you and Vlad, I know which vampire I’d prefer.”

“You don’t have to be difficult,” he said, “No harm will come to you that you don’t ask for.”

“Funny, I don’t remember asking to be kidnapped and tied up in a random-ass cabin.”

“Why else would you go running around without a chaperon? It’s like you were begging us to come grab you.”

She hummed to herself, trying to drown out any sound of the general and command anything that could get her out of this.

He pressed his thumb into the front of her neck, and she stopped as she tried to preserve air.

“I wasn’t even sure that would work,” he admitted, “But I guess you aren’t so different from us after all.”

That gave her an idea.

They could keep as much of the natural world away from her as they wanted, but they couldn’t make this place air-tight if they needed her alive. She listened to her breathing, trying to feel the air.

She got nothing.

“My point,” he said, “Is that your friends have decided negotiation is off the table, so it’s a good thing we still got some food out of it.”

The cabin was empty. It felt like one of those show houses Syren went to during a field-trip. One of her classmates’ parents was a realtor apparently.

“Are you sure this is the exact one?” Drake asked.

“Syren’s memories are some of the clearest I’ve read,” Charmer said confidently, “And you weren’t confident enough to guide us.”

“Thank you so much,” Syren said.

“You were kidnapped here?” Singe asked.

Syren looked around, even with Charmer’s confirmation, it looked untouched. However, if it was a show cabin, then someone was probably showing it off.

Her search granted her a phone-number on a business card.

“I think this company owns the cabin. If they own others—”

“Then the brotherhood could be repeat customers,” Singe said.

“Or repeat squatters,” Drake offered.

“What’s the range on your weird voice manipulation trick?” Syren asked Charmer.

“What do you mean?”

“You make your voice weird and layered so people have to listen. You tried to use it on Ripper, so we know it works on other demons.”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Because if we want to call them on this phone, that’s our best bet at them not calling the cops.”

“Or we could just talk one of the neighbors into lending us their phone,” Drake said, “Charmer could charm them into forgetting we were there if you’re really worried.”

“I did not agree to use my gifts so liberally.”

“Then just make them forget, like any good psychic should be capable of.”

“Singe,” Syren said, “You’re the least likely to scare a snow bird, go find a neighbor. Charmer, stay close enough to relay information to Drake and I. Drake, you and I are going to try sniffing out Bobbi before its too late.”

Singe and Charmer left the cabin.

“Who put you in charge?” Drake asked.

Syren shrugged.

“No one else was saying anything.”

Bobbi watched the general with annoyance. At this point he seemed to harbor the same feelings.

“Once we’ve killed your allies, I’m going to cut that tongue out.”

“You’re a near immortal vampire general and you can’t stand a little teasing?”

He slammed the table next to him.

“That’s exactly why I have no reason to offer you any courtesy.”

“Because you’re a near immortal vampire general who can’t stand a little teasing?”

He scowled.

“Weren’t you the one who said I was in the company of gentlemen? Boy do you change your tone fast.”

She got a slap from one of the women. That seemed to be the loophole they were abusing.

“Do you hear that?” the general asked. “Check the—”

The window broke as a gaunt figure in a hoodie jumped through it.

“Vlad!”

Her ropes were off and the general had her by the arm as he pulled her through a side door into the forest. At least she was in her element now.

The general put his hand over her mouth. She bit him, but it was even less effective when the person was wearing gloves, old disgusting gloves.

“You probably think this is what you want.”

She closed her eyes, reaching her mind out to the trees.

“That you’re in your element.”

She felt the roots under her.

“But you don’t have anything close to a wand.”

A wand?

“And I told you I was waiting for your friends.”

He dug his nails into her arm, breaking her concentration.

“Sweet as honey and twice as tempting.”

She tried to regain focus on the trees, but he sliced further down her arm, so all she could think of was the fact she was bleeding.

The good news was Vlad would find her, if he survived his encounter with the rest of the brotherhood in the cabin.

Did the others even know she was gone?

Syren would check, and people helped her when she asked. Singe would join at least.

Three people, and one of them was probably incapacitated already. She was fucked.

“And here I thought you’d keep yelling to attract your friends. That was the plan at least.”

He removed his hand from her mouth, moving it to her waist.

“Get your hand off me!”

“That’s right, scream for me.”

She wasn’t stupid, even if this was a trap, her best option was help.

“Help!” she shouted as loud as possible. Sadly the trees didn’t listen.

The trees began to feel more and more familiar as they came to the clearing with her father’s corpse and the tree that smelled like her.

“This is the place,” the general said.

“How did you—”

“Friends in high places, honey.”

He lifted her bleeding arm and licked the dried blood off of it, pupils suddenly turning wide. His hold on her loosened. She started to run, but her legs immediately collapsed.

She flapped her wings, drawing herself to a standing position, then just barely off the ground.

His nails tore through her wing, and it hurt more than her arm. She was on the ground again, but she was exhausted.

“I ain’t losing you, honey. You’re something else.”

She reached out to the trees, but they seemed exhausted too. They didn’t grow much this time of year, but there should have been some life to them.

She saw her tree, the one she came from, start to crumble. It was dying, everything was dying. She could hear animals speak of pain as they exhausted themselves.

“Help,” she pleaded one last time, unable to do anything else.

“I’m s’posed to keep you alive, Dragon!” the general yelled. Singe was here.

No, Singe was a dragon, but from a vampire, that meant they were talking about—

Whatever Vlad said in reply didn’t matter. He was here. The brotherhood hadn’t killed him.

At least if she died, she could see Vlad one last time.

Lucky for her, he fell down right next to her. He was holding a piece of her tree. He must have taken it to track her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Singe knows a lot about fey,” Vlad said, “You should interrogate him when we get out of this.”

Bobbi giggled. They weren’t getting out of this. They were going to die together, which was probably a dream come true for him if he was actually in love with her.

“I don’t mind dying with you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I think you’re the only one that can solve this.”

“Where’s—”

“Charmer’s held up, so is Singe, and Syren was the distraction.”

What were they planning? She was exhausted, but her mind was becoming clearer as it adjusted to everything.

“We need fire.” Vlad said.

“I can’t do shit right now.”

“I think all you need is kindling.”

He brought the broken branch to her hand, and she grabbed it instinctively. The senses she was shut off from earlier reactivated, including her sense of pain.

“Shit! Fuck! Damn! Fuck! Ow!”

Vlad laughed.

“Kindling,” Bobbi muttered. Fire didn’t come from nowhere. It needed ignition and it needed fuel, and she’d only focused on ignition this whole time.

She pushed herself up, leaning her weight on the untorn arm. Her legs hurt like hell, but she stood on them.

She was bleeding. Her wing was torn. She wasn’t in her real clothes, and all she could feel around her was death, but everything within her was rage.

“Shouldn’t have worn cotton, you dumb motherfucker.”

She raised the winds around him, forcing it to move fast enough to grow warmer.

“A nice breeze? Honey, I expected worse.”

She held the wand in front of her, holding the other hand to her chest. This felt familiar somehow.

“Good, I was worried you’d heed the warning.”

She snapped her fingers and his clothes caught fire. She used the wind to keep feeding it oxygen. She could barely feel any pain through the thrill of such destruction.

The general was screaming, which made Bobbi laugh.

She kept the flame going, keeping it focused in one spot until he was ashes, and then kept the pillar going for a few more minutes.

She giggled one more time, then promptly fell unconscious.

Bobbi stared at the letter. How did this happen? She’d expected her application to be rejected outright when she didn’t even bother mentioning the weird shit.

This was a bad idea. How was she supposed to hide everything going with her at a power school?

It would really be the best place though. It wasn’t like she’d get stares if something weird happened around her. She could even say it was probably someone else.

That settled it. She’d consider it.

Dear Ms. Fayner

Your application to study at Miskatonic West University has been accepted. You have also been selected for the Eves’ family scholarship fund. This enviable scholarship will grant you free room and board along with enough grant money to pay for classes and materials. The Eves have been involved with the school since its founding and love seeing exceptional students flourish.

M. Thoth, vice-dean of Miskatonic West University.

She was actually going to be a librarian.