the Impairy Story: Part 1 (2015 Revised)

Part 1:

On an unusually blustery summer night, the impairies had gathered around the small log cabin where the Veiled Women lived, for it was the night that they picked an impairy to have the Daé Nít Potion. The Veiled Women had changed over the years, coven members passing away and new women joining but they always continued with the tradition of giving the three bottles of potion. The women never seemed to look for specific qualities in an impairy. Most impairies thought any one of them could be picked but Shadow noticed that they seemed to always chose the younger ones. Shadow and Donella were the youngest at the time.

As they waited outside of the cabin, Shadow sat beside Moonlight and was looking around at the others. The others were giggling devilishly, stirring about excitedly, and chattering about who they think was the lucky one but Shadow saw Donella smirking and rolling her eyes unenthusiastically. Donella didn’t want the potion. For reasons that were beyond anyone’s comprehension, she had no desire to be with humans or be in the light again. She thought that the darkness was enjoyable to play in and that it was easier to trick humans at night.

“They better not pick her,” Shadow whispered to Moonlight heatedly, “It’ll be a waste. The humans wouldn’t even go near her with that ugly smirk of hers!”

Moonlight let out an half chuckle, half meow and replied, “Don‘t worry, they‘ll do what‘s right. They‘ll pick an impairy with a personality.”

Most humans didn’t know it but animals could actually talk. Only magical beings could understand them though and Shadow always confined in Moonlight. He was a wise, friendly, humorous, loyal cat.

Finally the Veiled Women emerged from the cabin, all thirteen women standing in a straight line and the impairies unusually in a hush. Impairies normally had no problem expressing their exhilaration even during the most serious of situations, but when the potion was given, they somehow managed to control themselves.

“Friends,” loudly announced Orrla, the eldest of the coven, “We have chosen the impairy to possess the three bottles of Daé Nít! Enough magic to be out in the light and be among humankind for three months, then come back to tell you what they have seen!” She paused and the impairies’ gleaming, cat-like eyes burned into her, as they smiled widely and licked their lips in anticipation for the news.

“This is a great privilege…a honor,” continued Orrla, “and this honored impairy is Shadow!” They all gasped with shock then suddenly cheered for her, hollering and hooting loudly. Even though they thought that she was just a misfit and resented her because they thought that they deserved it more, a part of them was still happy for her.

With her heart pounding, Shadow flew towards Orrla, who was holding out the wooden case of the three bottles of potion. “Before you can drink the first bottle,” Orrla said to Shadow, who was barely listening because she was too ecstatic, “you have to learn some human knowledge. The world had changed and is always changing. Are you ready to begin?” Shadow just said yes without thinking. All she could think about was meeting the human girl.

For weeks, the Veiled Women taught Shadow about literature, geography, history, science, and mathematics. Shadow loved the literature, geography, science, and the history. The knowledge made the outside world seem more fascinating to her. She even learned that they lived in a country called United States, in a place called Salem Massachusetts but she loathed mathematics. In mathematics, the numbers were confusing to her and the adding, subtracting, and dividing of them was just maddening.  It was like a puzzle that couldn’t be solved. When they would ask her a math question, she would cheat and use magic, making my answers appear in her head. The Veiled Women always caught her but as long as she was at lease aware of the concepts, they didn’t care much.

Then, on the third week of autumn, they finally let her drink the first bottle. The sun was slowly rising, making the sky have many shades of red and purple. Shadow was in the darkened cabin and couldn’t look straight into the light-filled sky yet, but she saw it from the across the room and thought it was beautiful. Moonlight was there for support and Shadow kept patting his head out of a mixture nervousness and excitement. With a flick of her wrist, Orrla made the bottle miniature sized and carefully handed it to Shadow.

“Drink it in the light,” instructed Orrla softly. Shadow flew towards the window where the gorgeous sun was now high in the sky. The light was burning her painfully but she took a deep breath, smiled widely at Moonlight and took a drink. The potion tasted as sweet and as sticky as maple syrup down her throat. She then begun to glow brilliantly. “Here we go!” exclaimed Moonlight, arching his back excitedly, as a huge, blinding flash of colors suddenly exploded from Shadow’s tiny body.

Meanwhile, outside of the forest, it was just another Monday morning for a fifteen-year-old girl named Anna White. The alarm clock was buzzing annoyingly and the smell of her step mom burning the breakfast was throughout the house. Just as she turned off her clock, the fire alarm then went off with its earsplitting shrill. “Oh not again,” she groaned, covering her head with her pillow. She just laid there on her stomach, hiding from the world, when her step mom yelled for her to come downstairs. She grumpily got out of bed and slowly stomped to her bathroom. She was exhausted. 

She was reading a book of Robert Frost poems until midnight and then sneaked out to meet her friends in the park. They walked to a party, which was boring and she only stayed at for about an hour. She was walking home by two but she made a stop on her way and didn’t come home until four AM.

After Anna washed her face and put on her black eyeliner and brown lipstick, she put on her gray, long sleeved shirt, her favorite black Hollywood Undead t-shirt, skinny jeans, and her black Converses. She combed her hair, letting her dark bangs fall halfway over one side of her face. She then went downstairs with great dread. She already knew that her step mom would criticize her the moment that she saw her. Confirming this, her step mom saw her walk in the kitchen and exclaimed, “You’re wearing that shirt again? And why do you wear you’re your hair like that all the time? You need to expand your horizons.”

Her step mom, whose name was Christine, acted close-minded and sometimes snobbish. Just because she was treated like the queen bee all of her life and was always the family’s fashion police, she tended to expect everyone else to be perfect like she pretended to be with her bleached blond hair and green eye contacts that obviously hid her mix-matched colored eyes; one being gray and another being black. Besides her constant judgment, what made it difficult and a bit awkward for Anna to call her step mom was that Christine was actually her aunt before she married her dad. They married six months after Anna’s mother was gone. Anna knew that they were marrying each other just because they didn’t want to be alone. They weren’t in love but no one listened to her. She didn’t know whether to think of it as a heartbreaking tragedy or as the grossest taboo ever.

“I like this shirt Christine because it has one of my favorite bands on it,” Anna said flatly but forcing a smile as she sat at the table, “And I think that my hair looks cool this way. Makes me look mysterious.”

“We should go shopping,” said Christine, practically ignoring Anna’s answer, “And I can give you some much needed fashion advice.”

“No thanks.” Due to lack of sleep, Anna’s patience with her was slowly waning that morning and she was thinking about storming out when her dad walked into the kitchen, all dressed in his handsome blue suit. He was a car salesman. He said that looking business-like made the buyers trust him faster. Her dad Peter, was a tolerant, calm, understanding, and funny man. It seemed like he always saving her from Christine. Maybe he knew that his new wife was a pain in the butt.

“Hi Dad,” said Anna with a more sincere smile.

“Hi Sweethearts,” he replied, kissing Anna’s forehead then Christine’s “What are my ladies talking about this morning?”

“I want to take Anna shopping,” Christine said, “but she’s being stubborn.”

Her dad seeing her exasperation in her face, he winked at her and said to Christine with a smile, 

“Shopping? I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ve seen our closet. You might buy out the stores and then we’ll have to file for bankruptcy. It’ll be such a headache.”  

Anna giggled underneath her breath, as Christine looked like a pouting child, putting their burned crisp breakfast on the table.

Anna then picked up a half black piece of toast from her plate but sneaked a Pop Tart into her book bag so Christine wouldn’t nag her about eating. She stood up and said, “Gonna see Mom before school.” She saw Christine glance nervously at her dad. She didn’t like Anna visiting her mother so much. It made her uncomfortable, which Anna didn’t understand because it was Christine’s sister after all, but they never dared to say anything to each other.

“Okay sweetie, just don’t be late for class,” her dad told her, as he opened the newspaper.

“I won’t.” She kissed his cheek, grabbed her book bag and jacket that were hanging on a chair, and headed towards the front door.

"Oh…Anna,” he called, making her stop mid-step, “Were you sleep walking again last night?” Her dad would hear her walk out of her room at night and she would tell him that she was just sleep walking. She was shocked that he bought it for so long. Sometimes she wondered if he really knew the truth and if he was just waiting for her to confess before grounding her for life.

 “Yes,” she lied, feeling a little guilty.

“We’ll need to take you to the doctor if it continues like this,” her dad said firmly.

“I agree with your father,” replied Christine. Anna just walked out the door without a word.

She darted out of her neighborhood and across the street, swooshing leaves underneath her shoes. It was very brisk autumn day and she ran to keep get from quivering. She walked to an iron, rusty gate and carefully unhinged the lock, slowly going in and closing it behind her. It was the entrance to Salem’s centuries old, spacious cemetery. Most people thought that cemeteries were spooky, almost evil, but to her, it was serene. It was the perfect place for loved ones to be remembered. She threw the burned toast in a crash can and took out the Pop Tart from her bag, eating and walking up a small hill. She stopped at the newest grave that was underneath a huge oak tree, which had the most beautiful red, brown, and gold leaves falling from it, making the whole scenery of the grave look like a water color painting.

She put down her book bag, sat on the ground in front of the grave, and with a soft, loving voice, she said, “Hi Mom, I’m back.”

Just then, back in the Veiled Women’s cabin, Shadow was standing in front of a mirror, her nakedness only being covered by her long, jet black hair. In the flash she had grew instantly and the clothes that she was wearing earlier fell off. She was now as tall as a human teenage girl and her skin pigment was now peach. The only thing that gave away that she was a magical being was her massive wings that still poked out from her back. She was staring at the mirror and giggling, admiring the change. Moonlight said with a paw covering his eyes, “Shadow, I think that you need to put some clothes on.”

“Yes you do,” said Orrla, handing her a plastic bag. The bag had a few clothes that they thought that Shadow might like. There was a slightly low-cut, white tank top with a red skull on it with two holes cut out in the back for her wings, even though they could fold in small if need be. There were also some black leather boots, some blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and of course some undergarments. 

“You will get some more clothing later,” she told Shadow, “This is for your first day of school today.”

“School?” Shadow exclaimed, puzzled.

“A place of learning for young people,” Moonlight reminded her.

“Oh yeah,” she mused, as she was getting dressed. When she was fully dressed, she wanted to gaze into the mirror some more. She just loved her new clothes but Orrla made the mirror disappear with a quick snap of her fingers.

“Shadow,” Orrla said with great seriousness, “Please listen. While with people, you’re going to be a normal teenager. You won’t use magic in front of a human and won’t tell a human what you really are unless you can truly trust them.”

“And please not too much mischief,” added Moonlight.

“Sure,” replied Shadow with a mischievous grin, clapping her hands and making the mirror reappear in front of her, “whatever you say.”

“And you will be provided with food, clothes, and shelter by our new sister,” added Orrla, pointing to the young woman next to her. Shadow turned around and saw that the woman was one of new ones in the coven. Her name was Linda and she was magnificent looking, being very tall and slender. She was so graceful that it looked like she was floating in the air instead of just walking on the ground. Also, despite her wearing a red veil and robe, everyone could still see her curly, brunette hair and her ocean blue eyes that seemed to sparkle.

“I will be helping you,” said Linda, “but you will never see me. I won’t interfere. You will just stay at my old house and I will only act as your parental figure so no suspicions will fall upon you.” Linda was the only one who had lived in the outside world with an ordinary life before being with the Veiled Women. She just couldn’t control her magical abilities so the Veiled Women took in to help her. Since she had been outside of the forest the most, she often assisted the impairies who drank the potion.

“We better be leaving now,” Linda said, “I don’t want you late for school.”

“Okay.” Shadow eagerly headed towards the door but was stopped.

“Wait,” exclaimed Orrla, handing her a bag with the two bottles of potion that were labeled 2 and 3, "Don’t forget to drink the next bottle on October 31^st before midnight.”

“Don’t worry, I remind her,” Moonlight said, jumping into Shadow’s arms. Then, looking affectionately up at her, he said, “I’ll be around and visit if you need me.”

“Thanks Moonlight,” replied Shadow, stroking him soft once down his back. Moonlight then hopped down and to save time, Linda snapped her fingers and materialized her and Shadow out of the cabin, out of the forest.

They were now standing in the back of cemetery, crouching behind an unknown grave. Shadow looked around and everything seemed so peaceful. She could feel the sunlight on her but could also feel the bitter wind and she got a chill down her spine.

“The house that you will stay in is over there,” whispered Linda, pointing at old, baby blue house that was right across the street from the cemetery.

“Alright,” replied Shadow, “But why are we whispering?”

Ignoring her, Linda continued and said, “And you are going to Salem High School.”

“Where is that place?”

Shadow didn’t know this but Linda had immediately saw and heard Anna, the girl that Shadow was so fascinated with meeting and she thought that this was the perfect time to do so. 

“Somebody will show you,” smiled Linda slyly.

“Who?” exclaimed Shadow. Linda just smiled again and she said, “I’ll bring you some food later.” Then she disappeared silently.

“Wait…!” Even though Shadow was clueless, she didn’t panic. She actually was just shocked that Linda was acting so secretive and mischievous. She personally thought that the Veiled Women followed too many rules to be free-spirited like they said they were.

“Hmm, who knew,” She marveled to herself with amusement, “One of them has it in them to act impish.” 

Not knowing what to do, she walked through the cemetery, trying to find a way out and find someone to show her where the school was, when she heard some voices by a tree. As she walked closer, she could see that it was the girl and some strangers. Shadow didn’t know why but she had the urge to hide from their view so she took cover behind another grave. Listening to their conversation, she realized that the strangers were being cruel to the girl and quickly came up with a plan for revenge.

Anna was sitting in front of her mother’s grave, carefully eating and quietly talking to her, telling her everything. She had visited last night but she liked to visit before school. It somehow made her day less stressful. She was about to leave, when Kayla Wiching and her older brother Lynn saw her and barged into the gate. Kayla and Lynn had bullying her since the first grade and she never understood why. Her mother always told her that they would realize the error of their ways and be her friends someday but after her mother died, it only got worse. It seemed like her extreme pain was their greatest pleasure.

Kayla had red hair, which was always in long ponytail and she was constantly flipping it off of her shoulder when she talked. Being very athletic, she was stronger and taller than Anna and she took advantage of that fact, shoving and knocking her down. Anna didn’t know how many times that Kayla bumped into her in the hallway on purpose and then blamed her but Lynn was the one that Anna disliked the most. He looked like an ordinary boy with short, dyed black hair and an acute sarcastic attitude but she just knew that he was heartless.  Her mother’s death became his punch line every time he saw her.   

“Hey emo girl,” mocked Lynn, “Crying to your dead mommy again?”

“Can I just visit my mother in peace?” said Anna, glaring at him.

“I bet that you even want to cuddle with her dead body in the coffin,” added Kayla. Lynn laughed and agreed with his sister.

“You love her so much,” Lynn said to Anna sardonically, as he and his sister began to circle around her slowly like vultures on prey, “but she probably thinks that your whimpering is so annoying!”  

Anna tried to run away from them but Kayla pushed her back. She felt scared and angry but she refused to act helpless.

“Lynn, you jerk,” exclaimed Anna, “I’m just paying respect to my loved one!”

“I’ll show you respect freak,” shouted Kayla angrily, about to grab Anna.

Shadow crept towards the tree and stood where only Kayla and Lynn could see her. In a deep, ghoulish voice, she said in their minds, “Maybe you two are the freaks!” With a blank expression, she then made her eyes blink red and let herself levitate off the ground, floating towards them. “Maybe I need to show you what respect really means!”

Their eyes bugging out wildly, they both screamed in horror. They wasted no time. Lynn grabbed his sister’s arm, practically pulling it out of its socket, and they ran towards the gate. Because their hands were shaking so bad, neither of them could unlock the gate at first but they finally got it open after a few seconds and ran out and down the street. Of course they left Anna behind and the gate open. 

Anna was confused but was laughing. “What the…?” 

She then heard someone else laughing behind her and she quickly turned around, almost jumping out of her skin. Shadow’s face went back to normal and she now stepped closer so Anna could see her. Anna smiled at herself and let out a sigh of relief, but asked Shadow, “Who are you?”

“My name is Shadow.”

“Cool name. I’m Anna.”

“Thank you,” Shadow replied, holding out her hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Anna shook her hand awkwardly and asked, “Was it you that scared those two?”

“Yes,” Shadow giggled.

“How?”

“A mask.” Shadow knew that she had to lie. “I just was walking by and I saw them being rude to you so I sneaked up behind and put on a mask that I have in my bag.”

“I usually don’t like help but that was priceless,” Anna chuckled, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“If there’s anything I can do for you,” said Anna, getting ready to leave, “just let me know.”

“Actually there is,” Shadow replied abruptly, “I’m new here and I’m lost. Can you show me where Salem High School is?”

“Well you’re in luck,” Anna said, “That’s where I’m heading. We can walk together if you want.”

“Oh Thank you very much.” Shadow went towards her and they walked side by side. Shadow was trying to conceal her joy as they exited the cemetery and walked down the street. Being human was easy so far. She already made a friend. Turning around and looking from afar, she saw that Anna forgot to close the gate so when Anna wasn’t looking, with a wave of her hand, she shut and locked it.

To be continued…

(c)Lena Holdman, all rights reversed 


Enjoy! ;)