Bleeding Hearts (Book)

She never expected that it would turn out like this, in all of their adventure, she could have never thought, never thought that he would be dead. And that it all started with a child’s game...

## Chapter One:

“Selena! Come on!” He shouted, running through the grassy field, not waiting for his friend.

Selena sprinted after him, short on breath, but exhilarated. If they could just make it to the forest, James could never catch them. They were both running as fast as they could, the first row of trees was so close. They made it eventually, both ready to collapse onto the ground from exhaustion. Selena found a place to hide in a hole that was in one of the trees, and he tucked himself into the bushes after helping Selena cover herself up. They had agreed, no magic. They would try this human game just like the humans played it, without anything other than their minds and their bodies. It was impressive and sad at the same time, he couldn’t imagine his world without magic, but they didn’t even know magic really existed, that his world really existed, they thought it was just a story. He heard footsteps, James. He made sure not to move a muscle, he would move the bush too if he did, and he would be caught.

He could hear James find Selena, she knew she would be caught, so she jumped out and scared him. James was scared, he fell over, landing right beside the bush, his hiding spot. Selena was giggling and James thankfully got up without spotting him. He asked Selena where he was, but she didn’t budge, which he silently thanked her for. James however, didn’t see it the same way. James huffed, and he could just imagine the look on his face.

That’s when he heard her shout, “Arthur Louis-Carter Huxley you get inside right now!” It was his mother, who no-doubt would lecture him about hanging out with his friends once he returned home.

He stood up, revealing himself from the bush, “I’ll see you guys later,” And he left.

He was right, when he got home, his mother lectured him about being around witches. How they were dangerous, would try and steal his magic, would hurt him, and so on. His mother never had approved of his friend choices, but she was wrong about them. They weren’t like how a lot of other people perceived the witches, and he thought that was unfair. She sent him to his room, telling him to stay there until dinner, and he did. He didn’t mind, really, he had plenty of books in there he wanted to read anyways. It had been mid morning when that had happened, so he was in his room for many hours, and in that time finished the first two books in a human series about magic. They called it ‘Harry Potter’  and  it was actually rather fascinating. For never seeing magic, humans had come quite close to describing it. Sure, they didn’t really use wands, but some used spells, so it was a decent guess. The regular human mind was actually really fascinating.

His mother came to his door and gave him food to eat, but told him he had to remain in his room. Yet still, that didn’t really matter to him. So, he ate his sandwich and began to read yet another one of their ‘Harry Potter’  books, making sure not to get crumbs on the book. By around six o’clock, he had eaten and read four of the books, and he thought that was a good goal to accomplish. His mother came once again to give him food, and said he would be able to go out tomorrow, as long as he didn’t hang out with his friends. He thought surely she must know that he would be with them anyways, no matter what she said. The sun set and he was left alone in darkness, so he couldn’t read. He spent the next while staring at the ceiling and thinking before he fell asleep.

In the morning, he gathered his things and ate breakfast before going outside. They had a gathering later in the day, one he was told he had to attend, even though he really didn’t want to. Fairies were all so peppy and he didn’t love being around the shared excitement of it all. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and strolled down the path off of his house that connected to the main path so he could meet Selena and James. His wings were as they always were, hidden from sight and non-existent, it was at that moment he was thankful fairies could retract their wings. He saw two people in the distance, and figured that they were his friends, so he turned and went in that direction. As he got closer, he realized that it was them. They had not seen him yet, but he was close enough that he could hear the conversation that they were having. It seemed they were discussing the gathering the witches were having this afternoon as well. He knew most had their gatherings on the same day, so it was odd that the witches sharing the day surprised him. He had always just assumed they had theirs on different days because of….well, how they were treated amongst the other factions.

He reached them after what seemed like an eternity of thought, but in reality it was only seconds, he greeted them with a wave and a smile. They greeted him back, and he was glad that even after what happened with his mother the day previous, they were acting normal towards him.

“So,” James asked, “What was your mother on about this time?”

He sighed, he had hoped they wouldn’t ask, but he knew they would, “Just her usual lecture about being around witches.”

Selena scoffed, “Seriously? She’s still doing that, after what, ten, eleven years?”

“Yep, old habits die hard,” He answered, “But enough about that, what are we up to today before all of the gatherings and stuff?”

Selena turned to James, and he smirked. Well that was never a good sign, he wondered what they could have been plotting before he had arrived. He frowned at them after a minute of them laughing to each other, whatever they were about to tell him, their plan was going to be absolutely ridiculous.

Finally, James was the one to answer him, “We’re going to go visit the human world.”

He nearly choked on the breath he had just drawn in, “WHAT? The human world? Do you know how dangerous that could be? What if-”

“Calm down, we’re just going for a few hours. I have the spell to get us there and to get us back, we’re just going to explore a little bit. Plus, maybe we could get you some more of those weird books you like. And maybe we’ll meet some real humans. We have human currency and disguises, James got them for us,” Selena cut in, covering everything he could possibly argue with them about, and, who knew, maybe the human world could be some fun.

He gave her a look before conceding, “Fine. But only for a few hours, we have to stay out of trouble and out of sight. Besides, we need to be back in time for the gatherings.”

“Why can’t you just relax for a few hours?” James poked.

“Just, I can! Alright? Let’s just go so that we can come back.”

James makes a noise that sounds agreeable, but he knew that it was to poke more teasing fun at him. He knew it wasn’t concedement of him being right, but that was alright. They were going to the human world, that is what concerned him more. Even with his wings hidden, his pale, shimmery skin, pointed ears and colourful hair would be enough for them to spot him. Although he did hear humans used chemicals to make their hair colourful, so perhaps that would be alright. They would all have to hide their faction marks, as those would be a clear giveaway of what they were, not human. Selena and James shouldn’t have an issue, witches looked decently like humans. Some had a very faint tint to their skin, whether it be a pale, deathly grey, a slight blue, purple or green, sometimes even brighter colours like orange, yellow and pink. Some didn’t have any at all, like Selena and James. They both had human-like skin and features, so with proper human clothes, no one would know the difference. Or at least, that was what he hoped would happen.

## Chapter Two:

Selena did indeed know the spell to get them there, just as she had said. They found the clearing in the woods they had been previously, to hide what they were doing from any passing people, but also so they weren’t completely lost upon return. It was the perfect spot for doing forbidden things like travelling to the human world anyways. Adults were allowed to go, but only if they went very rarely. You are forbidden from traveling there until you reach your faction’s maturity age, though. For witches, fighters and healers, it’s twenty. For shapeshifters, fairies and elementals, it’s one hundred. For communicators and telekinesis, it’s eighteen. That’s because our life expectancies are different. The first and last groups age at the same rate, and die at the same age as humans. Telekinesis and communicators age faster until they hit twenty though, then they are the same. We can live to be up to one thousand, us fairies, shapeshifters and elementals. That can be lonely, they’ve said. But that’s enough about that.

She opened the gateway that they needed to step through, and that they did. The human world was loud; busy and bustling was the best way to describe it. They stepped out onto a slightly raised platform to the dark grey road that was similar to stone. He knew that they did not use stone, though, that it must be the thing they called cement. The street was filled with buses and cars he had seen described in their books, all zooming by them at incredible speeds. Many, many people pushed past them and around them in a steady stream, giving them some distance, but differing absolutely by the busyness of their own world. The crowd was merely a sea of heads, suffocating him in the closeness. It wasn’t until he was knocked to the ground that he was taken from his thoughts and back into where he was. A tall, thinly built girl with wavy teal hair and dark tan skin had knocked him over from behind, he assumed by accident, at least he hoped. He knew humans, and the magicks alike could be particularly nasty on their own whims.

But by the way her crystal blue eyes widened and she instantly extended a hand, silently offering him help, he wasn’t so sure that she was, “I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you up!” He took her hand and let her pull him back up, straightening himself out.

“That’s quite fine, thank you,” He smiled at her, trying to show that he had taken no offense.

She looked him up and down, taking in his pointed ears, colourful hair, and unearthly stance that humans always noted about magicks. But, she didn’t give him any weird glances or run away, so maybe she didn’t recognise him. Those were things he heard had happened when a human found out a travelling adult was a magick. It didn’t end well for either in the encounter.

“You should be careful, a lot of people would have just run over you. Are you new here?”

“Uhhh, yeah. We are,” It technically wasn’t a lie.

“Oh, where do you live? I live just around the corner from here.”

Selena cut in, saving him, “We do too, maybe we could walk back together? We just got back from the beach.”

“Without bags?”

Selena nodded, “We were just going to watch the water. But we should get going back.”

“Okay, well, I’ll come with you! Maybe we can stop by my house on the way, I’m sure my mom won’t mind.”

“Well, thank you,” Selena followed the girl, and he and James trailed along behind her, “What’s your name?”  She asked.

“Oh, I’m Olivia. Who are you?”

“Well, I’m Selena, this is James, and that’s Arthur,” She pointed to the two boys in turn, still walking without hitting anything or tripping and maintaining eye contact with Olivia at the same time, it was incredible.

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Well thank you, I could say the same about yours,” Selena responded with her warm smile she had when talking to strangers, a good way to show them she wasn’t dangerous, being a witch, is what she said.

Olivia nodded once and kept walking, eventually they reached a green-gray human house that stood in front of a branch off in the road, the driveway. The house was rather small, windows spread evenly on each side, one on both sides of the door on the lower level, and one big round one in the middle of the upper level. The door was more of a stormy, dark grayish black with a gold handle. The downside of being a fairy was that you could not touch gold, even coming too close to it can make you pass out. He figured that was one of the only downsides, and just meant he wouldn’t open their door, which he most likely would not have anyways.

Olivia walked up and opened the door by twisting the handle. She pushed the door open and walked inside, he assumed she expected them to follow. James gave him a worried look, obviously he had noticed the gold too. He gave a curt nod, so the three walked into the house together. He made sure to avoid even the slightest brush with the doorknob, and even passing by it gave him a splitting headache. He tried not to make that legible to Olivia, though, as he didn’t care to explain his difficulties with gold to a human who would not understand.

In front of them soon after they walked through the door was a woman that resembled Olivia slightly. She was shorter, but still slim, with sandy blonde hair and shining green eyes. There were a few wrinkles around her eyes, and her skin was tanned. Her ears had earrings that were made to look like holly, but it was incredibly simple. Her eyes were lidded with a shimmery silver paste and her cheeks were just slightly rosy.

When she saw the three of them standing in her entrance behind Olivia, she frowned, “Livi, what did I tell you about bringing people inside without telling me first?”

“Sorry, Mama, I will next time.”

“Mmhm,” Her mother gave her a skeptical look, “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Olivia nodded as she walked off, and Selena frowned. She was rummaging through her leather bag hanging off of her shoulder, she was clearly distressed. She whispered something to James and his eyes widened, a look of panic spreading across his face. Something was wrong, he should find out what.

Olivia got there first, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I just, uh, Arthur can I talk to you for a second?” Without waiting for an answer, she yanked him past the golden door handle and back outside onto the front steps of the home, “Do you have the fairymoss?”

One of the most vital ingredients for the way home, panic that he struggled to keep down rose up within him, “No, you said you had it! Does James have it? He clearly doesn’t based on the way he reacted! Are we stuck? Are you making fun of me, do you have it?”

“No, I don’t have it, he doesn’t either. I’m sure it’s somewhere. I’ll find it. Let’s just go back inside and just try to act calm, alright?”

Calm, how he was supposed to manage that was beyond his comprehension, but instead of saying that, he said simply, “Alright, yeah, I’m calm. Perfectly calm.”

“Great,” Selena turned around and walked back inside, leaving the door open for him.

He wondered in a situation like this, how she held her composure. Was she also freaking out on the inside, or was she really level-headed? Things he wondered that he may never get a straight answer to would be the most intriguing, wouldn’t they? But he followed her back inside to see James sitting on Olivia’s white couch. They were looking at something, with Olivia occasionally pointing at things, resulting in a nod from James. He wondered what she could possibly be showing him, until he saw the little pink box she held in her hands. The face of it was smooth, a light was emitting from it, on it was a cat jumping through an obstacle course. He wondered how the very tiny cat in the very tiny obstacle course fit inside the box, normally cats were larger. James seemed unbothered by the concept, and Selena sat on the couch beside him, asking the question he also wanted to know, what that was.

“You’ve never had a phone either? Did you three live under rocks before you moved here?”

“It’s complicated,” Selena laughed, not technically a lie, it was in fact, complicated.

“Huh..” Olivia paused, “Well, this is a phone.”

“It lets you talk to people all across Earth without sending letters, a whole decree displayed in seconds! Isn’t that amazing?” James’s eyes were wide with wonder, he was truly excited for one of the handful of times in his life.

He nodded slowly, “Yeah, it is,” He knew humans didn’t have magic, how could this be possible without it?”

He was honestly confused, but she didn’t see it. Olivia returned the small device to her hooded sweater’s pocket that was sewn into the front. Her mother walked into the room, giving him a glance that didn’t look too particularly nice as she passed through and went into another room. He frowned, yet no one else had noticed that she had even walked in, let alone give him a nasty look. Or at least, he didn’t think any of them had noticed. Maybe they had and just hadn’t said anything. Olivia was now talking to them about her cat, holding the small black ball of fluff in her hands, it was sitting on her lap, asleep. Its underbelly was white, so were its two front paws. The pattern on its paws looked almost like socks, but everything else was just pure black fur. It was actually very adorable, and from what he picked up from the conversation, it’s name was Mittens.

Her mother came back into the room, and she looked anything but happy. She frowned at them all talking in a circle, with Olivia in the middle with Mittens (who was still asleep) and with him on the side, instead of in the circle. She glared at him before it disappeared and she turned to Olivia, “Livi, I need to speak to your friend for a moment, the one with the pink hair,” Him. She meant she wanted to talk to him.

## Chapter Three:

Now, he was standing in the hallway, alone with Olivia’s mother, who clearly hated him, “I know what you are,” She said, voice low. The words were so full of loathing it was difficult to fathom.

“I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure what you mean.”

She yanked the sleeve of his human disguise shirt up, revealing his faction mark, it wasn’t hard to miss. It was deeper than his skin tone, but the same sort of colour. With the glimmering wings of a faerie, if she knew what it meant, she wouldn’t miss it in a million years.

She gave him a deadly glare, “You stay away from my daughter. You and your friends go back to where you came from, I do not want you here.”

“What did we do..?” He asked, skeptical if he truly wanted an answer or not.

“It doesn’t matter what you did, you are one of them. I do not want you near my house or my child ever. So get out, and don’t come back. You aren’t welcome here.”

How would she have known about the mark? Even if it had just been a guess, how would she have known what it meant? Either she was one of them, or…

“How do you know? You wouldn’t know unless you had been to the Magick realm..how did you get there?” He met her gaze.

He couldn’t tell if it made her more or less angry, but she sighed, “That is a long story. Why are you here? From the looks of it none of you should have been allowed to come here. How did you get here?”

“We snuck through.”

“I knew it!” She kept her voice low, “You need to go back home. Leave, don’t come back.”

“We can’t..we lost the things we need to get back..”

Her eyes softened just slightly, “You’re stuck here. Alright, well, go back to your friends. I’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you?” He figured she knew the tone of his voice was more question than certainty, but if she did, she did not say anything to it. She instead turned away from him and walked back through the hall into the kitchen.

He went back to the three, Olivia and James were still excitedly chattering about Mittens, and Selena was sat on the arm of the small chair that matched the couch, perhaps a set. She seemed worried, but that eased up once she saw him reenter, and he walked over to her. He sat on the other arm of the chair, keeping his feet on the floor. He cast a glance at the cat, then back to Selena.

Selena looked back at him, “Are you alright?” She asked in a hushed voice.

He nodded back, “She knows.”

“About?”

“Us.”

“How?”

He only shrugged in response. Truly, he couldn’t give an answer, for he didn’t know. Selena sighed, clearly she was disappointed in his lack of answer. He figured that was just, but he couldn’t change it by giving an answer. He wanted to find out, and hopefully they would, but maybe they never would. They may very well never see her again, but where they were to go now was the true question. They were stuck, and would need to find a place to live, which could very well be on the streets.