Prayer of the Refugee

Chloe panted, gasping for breath as she hid in the doorway of an alleyway. Clutching her chest she tried as hard as she could to regain her strength to continue running. She had been at it for over an hour now, it was well past midnight and the streets seemed empty. It was hard to believe that in a city this big there was nobody who could help her. ‘Perhaps,’ she thought, ‘This really is just a game. They make me think I’ve escaped to the real world, just so I’ll try that much harder to escape.’

She wanted to cry, oh how she wanted to just break down into a sobbing heap right there. But the sound of baying dogs a few alleys over shook her from her depression. She needed to keep running; she knew all too well what happens when she is caught. The fae kidnapped her as a young girl, they brought her to their world, and they made her a fox. And then all those other boys, the ones who were dogs, got to chase her down. They would always catch her eventually, they would pin her down and bite and claw, rip and tear and rape, until there was nothing left but a bloody mess. And then the Fae would put her back together, everything but her fragile mind, and the next day she would be forced to run once more.

She ran, lungs burning, legs aching, ears straining for the sound that chilled her blood. The sound those dogs made haunted every moment of her life. With a crash five dogs rounded the corner, knocking over bins and garbage and tearing at breakneck speed through the puddles. In moments they were upon her, circling her as she had reached a dead end. Chloe fell to her knees, despair already sinking in.

“Look, look, she looks human here as well.” One of them said, scratching his head behind his ear. The others nodded, tongues lolling out of their mouths as they panted. They all looked completely normal, aside from their mannerisms. But she could tell, on some level, that their ears were really dog ears, up on top of their heads, and their teeth were really all long and sharp. They were no longer human, just like her, the only difference was they were the predators, and she was the prey.

“Master wants her back, in one piece.” The biggest one said, the others nodded, but seemed to be already drooling over her. “Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, just no teeth today boys.”

One of them circled in close, sniffing at her while she quivered beneath their leering eyes. He grabbed a handful of her short rusty-red hair, and pushed her down on her knees. With one hand still buried in her hair he pulled her red sundress up and yanked down her underwear. The other dogs all hooted and hollered at the scene before them, some still circling, waiting for their turn.

The wind picked up as he yanked down his pants, getting on his knees as well he leaned in and gave her a lick. She whimpered and the others laughed, the one behind her climbed up on top of her, hunching possessively across her body and leaning his head next to her ear. “You belong to the pack, you can’t run away. If this were back in Arcadia you would be nothing but a pile of blood and guts right now. You’re ours to hunt, whenever we want, and you’re ours to fuck, whenever we want.”

She gave a whimper as he pressed into her, it had happened a hundred times, but usually there was other pain to take her mind off of it. She was usually bruised and broken and bleeding when they finally took her. So delirious from the pain that she barely noticed when they’d push into her. Now she could only try to distract herself while the others jeered and laughed and howled in delight. The wind had continued to pick up, and now it whistled around them at increasing velocities.

“Move over, I want her ass!” Called one of the dogs, as he stepped forward. The one on top of Chloe snarled back at him, bearing his teeth and clutching Chloe’s hips possessively.

“Back off, you’ll have your turn!” The first dog growled, his voice low and rough and his eyes wild.

“There’s enough of her to go around, just move over or something, we all know her ass is the best part anyways.” The others laughed, but the one behind her was stubborn, they argued for a moment as the wind reached a near deafening whine.

The dog behind Chloe stood up to shove the imposing hound away, as he did so they were all forced to cover their ears from the high-pitched sound of the wind. “What the fuck is that?” Cried one of the dogs, his hands covering his ears as he fell to his knees.

At the centre of the alleyway the wind had become almost a vortex around Chloe, the whine shattered the windows overlooking the area, and dogs backed off, quite startled. “Grab the bitch, let’s get out of here.” Yelled the alpha, while two dogs rushed the vortex, only to have the wind lash out at them, and sent them flying out, cut to ribbons. It appeared as if the vortex of wind had become a solid object, like spinning blades of air that threatened the dogs around Chloe.

With a deafening crack the wind lashed out again, catching two more dogs and sending their bodies into nearby dumpsters. One hit with enough force to leave a dent in the thick steel. The last dog backed off and tried running, only to feel the chilling gust of wind blast past him.

As he fell to the alley floor Chloe looked up, the area had become silent once more, and beside the body of her last tormenter there appeared to be a young man with silver hair. He walked towards her as the world around her spun, and when she looked at her hands to try to focus she realized her ears must be bleeding. As the world faded out into black she felt herself being lifted into the air.

Sometime later Chloe awoke in a small room, lying on a cot with bandages around her feet. A weathered old lady came in shortly after, and took notice of Chloe sitting in the corner with a blanket wrapped around her. “Now now dear, you’re safe now. You’re in a freehold now. Do you know what that is now?”

Chloe shook her head, staring at the lady with wide eyes. “Well now, you must have just escaped now. A freehold is a place where people like us can live in peace now. People who escaped from the Fae now.” The old lady puttered about the room, bringing a small basin of water and a cloth over to Chloe. When she approached Chloe noticed how strange the lady looked.

The wrinkles on her face looked like whiskers, and her eyes were like a cat’s. Looking up Chloe noticed that the lady’s ears were the same way, like a cat’s on top of her head. Chloe pondered a moment, and realized the lady had not been saying ‘Now’ the whole time, but ‘Meow’. “You’re a cat.” Chloe said.

The lady chuckled, and pointed behind Chloe. “Meow by that tail, I’d guess you are a fox meow.” She laughed at Chloe’s embarrassed reaction and began to soak the cloth in the basin. “It’s called a mein, and it’s what we really look like meow, nobody gets out of Arcadia without being changed. With a bit of effort we can put on a mask meow, it lets us look and feel normal. When your mask is on nobody in the world can tell you apart from a normal human meow.”

Chloe watched as her bandages were removed; only now noticing how her run through the alleyways in bare feet had damaged her. With no Fae putting her back together again feet were a mass of cuts and scrapes. “Meow you’d best be staying off of those feet for a good bit of time, and I’ll see if I can find you a pair of shoes meow. Old man Jenkins is a cobbler; he can make you a pair in a jiffy.”

“Um…” Chloe spoke up finally, as the old lady finished wiping down her feet and re-bandaging them. “How did I get here, I just remember a loud strong wind, and then my attackers were dead, and I was here…” The lady looked contemplative for a moment, and then moved to check Chloe’s ears.

“Hmm, meow we just found you on our doorstep. I volunteered to take you in meow, until you were feeling better. But a strong wind meow… sounds like you ran into Sicklewind.” She chuckled and noted the confused look on Chloe’s face. “He’s like us meow, but changed in different ways. He helps others escape meow, and defends this freehold. He should be back any minute meow, his shift is nearly finished.”

“Try putting on your mask meow. Just think of how you used to look meow. I’m too old to do that sort of thing meow; everyone just calls me Emma the crazy cat lady meow.” She handed Chloe a mirror, and watched as Chloe concentrated. Within moments Chloe inspected her new look in the mirror.

Her rust-red hair fell just below her now-human ears. It framed her delicate face perfectly, and helped draw attention to her button nose and light blue eyes. The rest of her body was thin and pale, yet muscular, like a dancer’s.

There was a knock at the door and Emma shuffled her way over to answer it. After a muffled conversation Emma lead a young man into the room. He was tall and thin, his hair was an unnatural silver color and seemed to blow about occasionally, whether there was a breeze present or not. “My name is Alexander Sicklewind; I am the one who brought you here. I hope you are finding hospitality in this freehold, if there is anything you need the people here will be happy to provide for you.”

Even though he spoke quietly his voice carried so well it was as if he was whispering right in her ear. When he had finished speaking he turned towards the entrance of the small home and began to leave. “Wait!” Chloe called, attempting to stand before remembering her bandaged legs. “I want to thank you somehow, for rescuing me.”

“That is unnecessary, it is my job to do so.” He replied, not turning around. “I will come visit again tomorrow, to see that you are being properly taken care of.” And with that he left, Emma shook her head as she closed the door behind him.

“He’s not very good at showing emotions meow, but he’s really not a mean person. Just a little… cold meow.” She said, fixing a pot of tea on a small wood-burning stove. “I’m going to be away for a few days meow, but I’ve arranged my niece to come look after you. Meow she may not be as wise as I am, or my real niece of course. But she’s like family to me meow, and I know she will take good care of you.”

They spend the rest of the evening talking about freeholds and how they worked. They were like hidden communities, where the refugees who escaped from the Fae could live and work without fear of being re-abducted. Everyone did their part to pitch in, and Chloe would be expected to once her feet were fixed. But, having been in captivity since she was only 14, Chloe had no idea what she would be good at doing.

Eventually it grew late, and Chloe was left with orders to get some rest, Emma’s niece would be there in the morning to take over her care.