I’ve lived alone in the mostly uninhabited valleys of Ireland as long as I can remember. Anyone who actually does live here has no idea that I exist. So you can imagine my surprise when I met someone who not only knew my name, but knew what I was.
***
Night had fallen quickly, which was a stroke of good luck for me. On nights like this, any inhabitants of the area would have already left, leaving me to do as I please. And that meant that no one would see me change.
I shed my human form and took off, running on all fours under the guise of a red fox. A bittersweet burst of happiness filled my chest as I drank in the amazingness of it all – the wind whipping my fur, the cold night air meeting my senses, the sudden rush of adrenaline - it was all fantastic. Maybe I’d chase some rabbits or something. I hadn’t eaten in a while, and the thought of watching them all flee as I pounced was very amusing.
All of a sudden, a new, unfamiliar scent struck my nose, and I skidded to a full stop. Someone was out there. Either they’d been very careful with their approach, or I’d just gotten careless.
Whatever the reason, the circumstances still stood. Someone had arrived, and I needed to split.
I scanned the area, and spotted a bit of cover off to my left. I couldn’t see anything living though; maybe they were upwind. I slinked to the brushy undergrowth and crouched, trying to make myself as small as possible.
There were a few minutes of silence.
But what I heard next nearly made my heart stop.
“Um… Aine? Are you here?”
I froze. I hadn’t heard anyone say my name in… well… a literal thousand years. But at the same time, it really irked me. Mostly because whoever was calling me was mispronouncing my name as “Ein”.
Stupid Irish spellings.
The voice spoke again; “Is that your name? Aine Whelan?” and then an irritated whisper. “Showing up on the monitor, but I don’t see her.”
In that instant I decided the risk was worth my curiosity.
“It’s pronounced Ahn-yay.” I said as I stood up, unable to keep a twinge of annoyance out of my voice.
My pursuer jumped. I guess he hadn’t heard me, either. As he faced me I finally got a good look at him – pale, with dark, messy hair and eyes I can only describe as electric.
“Oh… sorry about that.” He replied, staring curiously at me. I could only imagine that I looked similar, although I tried to keep the emotion off my face. “My name’s Sebastian.”
He didn’t have an accent, which made me assume he wasn’t a resident. A tourist, maybe? But that didn’t explain why he was in the middle of nowhere looking for me. As far as I knew, I wasn’t listed in Ireland’s national brochures as a tourist attraction.
“Why are you here?” I crossed my arms, keeping my eyes trained solemnly on his face. “More importantly, how do you know my name?”
Sebastian – whoever he was – actually grinned at me. “I know a little more than just that.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Sure…”
“According to this, you’re Aine Whelan, resident of Ireland since before it was called Ireland, and you are of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, right?”
I felt like I’d been slapped across the face. “Who told you that?!”
“No one.” He replied matter-of-factly. “I just used this.” He held up some electronic – I could only assume it was a tracking device. I hadn’t hung out with humans enough to know one piece of technology from another.
“And to answer your previous question, I’m here to bring you – willingly, of course,” he added, seeing my eyes narrow “– to the Mythological Creatures Club.”
There was a pause. “A club?” I questioned.
“Yeah. You see… there are others like us, and Akira and I decided that there’s more safety in numbers, so we’re trying to gather everyone together. To keep us safe, you know?” He finished.
“Waitwaitwait – hold up for a second here. Who’s Akira? And what do you mean, there’s more of us? More…?”
“More mythological creatures. Like I said before.”
I paused. “…I don’t know. This seems pretty sketchy.”
“Yeah, that’s what they all say.” He smirked. “Look, just give it a chance, okay? What do you have to lose?” He looked around warily. “You don’t have, like, family, do you?”
“No.” I said bitterly. But then I remembered my mother, before she had been taken. She would have wanted me to be safe. And Sebastian had mentioned ‘safety in numbers’…
“Alright.” I threw up my hands. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this. It went against everything I’d ever done. “I’ll go with you. I don’t know why, but I’ll do it.”
“That’s the spirit.” He looked relieved - maybe I wasn’t the most difficult member to convince. “You don’t have anything to bring, do you?”
I shook my head. All I owned were the clothes on my back.
“Great. Let’s get going. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”
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FIRST POST WOOOOOO
So, hey guys. Meet Aine.
I think I made her more sarcastic than I intended. Whoops.
I wonder what'll happen when Aine finds out that Sebastian's a vampire? >:D
