Less Than Whole

Kylie drove like mad through El Paso. He wasn’t as familiar with the city as he’d have liked to be so he kept getting lost. The woman just had to live all the way on the other side of town, on the west side of the mountains! It took an hour to get there and had taken him a good twenty minutes or so to scry out Aloysius’s location before he even started driving. He was cursing in his native language, loudly. His tires screeched at every turn.

He parked on the street and locked the car. Then he hid the keys with his driving gloves under a giant century plant. He took a deep breath, feeling his lungs fill with the dry, thin El Paso air. He looked up and down the street. It was sparsely lit and he saw no one obviously watching him. So he took another breath and this time he drew on his magic and changed into a giant black mastiff dog. The dog trotted up the street, sniffing and searching. When he got the scent, he stopped and changed again into a crow.

He hated flying in the dark as a daytime bird, but he’d never gotten the knack of changing into a bat or owl. This form would have to do. He flew around the house that he believed Aloysius was in. He saw movement in an upstairs window and flew to the sill. Inside, he could feel strong magical energies, a kind of sexual feeding that he had hoped Aloysius wouldn’t inherit.

The woman was in trouble, and wouldn’t even know it. Kylie threw his body against the glass once, just to try to get their attention. He tapped the window with his beak and scratched with both feet. He wasn’t able to distract them. He hadn’t thought he would be able to anyway. He shook out his feathers and lifted into the air. He circled around and then dove for the window. At the last minute, he changed back into the dog and his sudden weight broke through the glass.

That got their attention! Glass flew everywhere, broken and tinkling like the roar of a split-second waterfall. Fortunately, Aloysius and the woman were on the other side of the room. Kylie shook glass out of his fur and bared his teeth at Aloysius. He smelled dark magic.

The woman screamed and clutched the plaid blanket to her naked chest. Aloysius on the other hand, turned slowly and hissed.

Kylie changed back to his human form, but stood taller than he usually did. It was a simple thing to grow taller, and to grow more muscular. He crouched into a fighting stance for a moment while he surveyed the room through human eyes.

The woman was still screaming. Aloysius seemed to unfold as he continued to turn towards Kylie. Then he sat back, spring-like, and jumped. Kylie was ready and turned Aloysius’s own momentum against him, throwing him against the wall. Kylie was stronger than a human, but Aloysius was, too. Fortunately, Aloysius was only a half-breed, and he didn’t know the full extent of his own strength.

Aloysius shook himself, sending sprays of plaster and chipped paint around the room. He launched himself at Kylie again, expecting to be thrown. Instead, he received Kylie’s knee in his stomach. His eyes rolled back as Kylie hit him, hard on the back of his head. He sank to the floor and didn’t move.

He turned to the woman who was still screaming and walked towards her. He spoke soft words of magic that quieted her and let her sink into a dreamless sleep. Kylie positioned her head and covered her up so that she would be comfortable. Then he turned back to Aloysius who was recovering and sitting up.

He groaned and held a hand up to his head. “What happened, Kylie?”

Kylie snapped his fingers twice in Aloysius’s face. “Take my hand. We have to get out of here. I screwed up badly Aloysius. Don’t worry. When we get home, I’ll make sure you understand everything.”

Aloysius looked around the room like he didn’t quite believe he was really there. He took Kylie’s hand to get up and then stumbled across the room to find his clothes. As he put them on, he asked, “What are you, Kylie?”

“What I am is not very important. I am your friend, that’s all you need to know.”

“No! It’s not all I need to know! What happened here?”

Kylie rubbed his eyes and then said. “You were taking the life-force of that woman.”

“I was just…” he stopped and wiped his forehead. It glittered with sweat. “I don’t remember actually. Not everything. What do you mean?”

“I want to tell you everything, but I made a promise to your mother a long time ago, a stupid, stupid promise. I can’t break it. I am of Faerie and we cannot break our promises.”

“You’re a what?”

“Come on; let’s go before she wakes up.”

“Will she be OK?”

“Yes. I got here in time.”

Aloysius looked paler than Kylie had ever seen him. “Was I going to hurt her--kill her?”

Kylie didn’t answer. Instead he said after a moment’s thought, “I’m a phouka. To answer your earlier question: what I am.”

This had the effect Kylie wanted. Aloysius blinked and with a light touch from Kylie on his back, started walking. “What is a phouka?” he asked. His curiosity rose over his fear. He didn’t want to believe he was a killer, Kylie thought. He’d rather know what his friend was than to face what he really was. That was very human, and oddly comforting.

“I’m Fae, but you would know me better as a fairy.” He hated calling himself that, but it was a term Aloysius would recognize. He unlocked the door and led him across the street.

“Are you kidding?”

“No,” Kylie groused. “And don’t ever call me a fairy, or tell anyone else you know what I am. It’s very bad luck.”

“Ok, but what are you doing here, I mean, in Texas? I know you used to live in Ireland. You left?”

“I was banished, temporarily. I may come back if I am ever deemed worthy.”

“Why?”

Kylie bent down to retrieve his gloves and keys. He never put his keys in his pockets. His black pants weren’t usually “pants” but rather magical constructs he created for his human form. It burned to put them in his “pocket” because he was really putting them inside his body. Kylie looked up and sighed. “It is a long story. Basically, I offended our Queen quite deeply.”

“And you were exiled.”

“Yes. Get in. We need to go.”

Kylie started the car and drove out of the area as quickly as possible. He picked up the highway, and then soon exited to take the Transmountain Road. The sun was beginning to rise and the sky was turning a sickly orange-pink. He glanced at Aloysius who was deep in thought and looked sick himself. He was letting him think too much on his own. There was no reason for it if he couldn’t tell him the whole story about half of his heritage.

So he just started talking. The words sort of just fell out of his mouth. “I traveled for many years, Aloysius. And when I say many years, I mean, centuries. I am fae, and I will live forever unless I am killed. As I wandered, I found no one I wanted to help or become a part of. Mortal lives are so short, I was afraid to join you only to lose the ones I might love.

“But then at the height of my despair, I met your mother. She was kind to me even though she was pregnant and afraid. She was alone and had nothing, yet she shared with me. I wanted to help her. I’ve never wanted to help anybody since I left my home, but I wanted to help her.

“When you were born, I helped take care of you. When your uncle and Pablo came to the ranch, I had more help. But you won’t remember that I changed your diapers and I fed you baby food. I love you, Aloysius. You are really like a brother to me. I have never had that before in all of my many, many years of being alive.

“Please don’t worry about what you are. You are a good person. You can think of what you have as a curse of sorts. It’s not who you are. It’s not what you would do if you were able to control yourself. You can’t.”

Aloysius was crying silently, tears rolling down his face. He sniffled and said, “I wish you could tell me everything now.”

“I do, too.” He reached over and took his friend’s hand and held it all the way back to the motel. He watched Aloysius brush his hair and his teeth and then sink into bed. He watched him sleep the whole day, never taking his yellow eyes off of him.