Creepy Hollow Fae: Zapper

Year of study: second
Assignment type: group (with mentor)





“First question,” says Milton-The-New-Mentor. “What’s the zapper’s real name?”

“Zoochimera.”

“Zofolofel?”

“Zany-monkey?”

Milton raises an eyebrow. “No, no, and definitely no.”

We’re standing in a supermarket aisle between bags of flour and packets of dried fruit. In the next few minutes a woman is supposedly going to come down this aisle and find herself accosted by a zapper. The four of us, guided by the newest mentor at the Guild, are supposed to save her.

“What’s wrong with zoochimera?” I demand. Offering up an incorrect answer is not something I’m used to. “The zapper’s composed of parts of different creatures, so that makes it like a chimera, right?”

“Zoochimera is a stupid name,” says Rush.

“Oh, like Zany-monkey isn’t?”

“Zany-monkey is awesome—”

“Stop being an idiot, Rush,” says Honey.

“Okay,” Milton says above all of us. “You’re all going to be looking that up for homework. Including Dale, who decided not to answer at all.”

“Hey,” I say, pointing behind Milton to where a woman has just turned her trolley into our aisle. “Do you think that’s her?” Packets of raisins suddenly explode into the air, and a zapper jumps off a shelf and onto the woman’s trolley.

It has wings like a sprite, a body like a goblin, and the hideous head of an urisk. Its tail ends in a sharp barb, which is how it earned itself the nickname ‘zapper’. It also appears to be concealing itself with a glamour, because the only thing the woman seems to find weird about this whole situation is the flying raisin phenomenon.

The zapper straightens, its tail curling up and over its shoulder, getting ready to ... well, zap.

“Okay, guys,” whispers Milton. “Just like we discussed.”

~  ~  ~

Like this flash fiction? Find out more about the Creepy Hollow series.
If you'd like to know more about my A to Z flash fiction pieces, read my A to Z Challenge Theme for 2012 post.

Cover reveal: TRAITOR (CREEPY HOLLOW, #3)

Here's a pretty picture for you this fine Sunday!

Traitor is on Goodreads

I don't have a description up yet, but here's a two-line teaser for you instead!

“I mean, no matter what happens you won’t forget that I lo—that I really care about you?” 

Whoa, hang on. HANG ON. Did he almost just use the L-word?

Heeheeee! The dreaded L-word!

~  ~  ~

In other news... Who else is completely exhausted from the A to Z Challenge?! I know one shouldn't say never, but I am NEVER doing 26 flash fictions in a row again! (Well, unless my plan actually works next time and I get them all written BEFORE April. That was the plan this year. Didn't happen. Yeah, I suck.) So I, for one, am really glad that tomorrow is Z!!!

Creepy Hollow Fae: Yuromanter

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





The blonde in the miniskirt leans closer to her mirror and dabs something over her eyelids. “So then I told him that I’d just have to skip the game if he was gonna be like that, and he was all like, whatever babe, doesn’t bother me.”

Her friend, lying on the bed flipping through a magazine, looks up. “Ugh, what a douchebag.”

“I know. Total asshat, right?”

Douchebag? Asshat? I haven’t heard those before, but they sound like names I could use for Ryn when the occasion next calls for it.

“How could I ever have thought he was The One, you know?” Miniskirt Girl drags mascara over her lashes. “Like, I was gonna give myself to him. I mean, how gross.”

Okay. Did not need to know that. I wander over to the bed and check beneath it for yuromanters, but I see no sign of the tiny insect-like fae with the triangle faces. They’ll most likely aim for the dresser when they get here; they have a weird affinity for makeup. Trying not to move the closet doors too much—that would certainly look weird to a human—I peek inside. Wow. What a mess. It’s a wonder this girl can—

A scream cuts through the sound of the radio, and I whip around.

Yuromanters. Everywhere. And clearly they’re not intelligent enough to know they should glamour themselves in front of humans. Some scurry across the floor, while others zoom through the air, all heading for the makeup scattered across the dresser. Colors shift and shimmer like burning coals beneath their wings. Beautiful, but now’s really not the time to admire them.

Miniskirt Girl jumps onto the bed and clutches her friend, who is now also screeching at the top of her lungs.

I sigh and being drawing magic from deep within me. I wish the Seer has been just a little clearer about the number of yuromanters I’d be rounding up.

~  ~  ~

Like this flash fiction? Find out more about the Creepy Hollow series.
If you'd like to know more about my A to Z flash fiction pieces, read my A to Z Challenge Theme for 2012 post.

Creepy Hollow Fae: Xerogoul

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





He wraps his sandpapery hands around my neck and squeezes. “You damn guardians think you can interfere in everything that isn’t your business.”

I slash at him with my knife, slicing through the front of his jacket, and then bring my knee up hard against his stomach. He stumbles backward down the cinema steps. “You make it ... our business ... when you try to kill someone,” I gasp, then throw the knife at him for good measure. He dodges the weapon, which vanishes into the air before it hits the screen.

I reach into the air and grab another knife in each hand. I throw them, one after the other, but the xerogoul jumps and somehow just keeps floating upward. I guess you can do that when you weigh little more than a sheet of paper. He looks like a washed out version of a human, but I know he’s empty inside. And I mean that literally.

“You’re gonna have to get a whole lot more knives,” he says. “’Cause your aim sucks, little girl.”

I snap my fingers and a flame appears in my palm. “You wanna come over here and say that?”

~  ~  ~

Like this flash fiction? Find out more about the Creepy Hollow series.
If you'd like to know more about my A to Z flash fiction pieces, read my A to Z Challenge Theme for 2012 post.

Creepy Hollow Fae: Will-o'-the-wisp

Year of study: third
Assignment type: paired (with mentor)





“Here’s what I think,” says Jasmine between chattering teeth. “If these humans are stupid enough to go hiking in this—” she gestures to the thick mist swirling around us “—then they deserve to be led into a marsh and drowned.”

Nearby, I hear a sigh from our observing mentor, Bran.

“Well, here’s what I think,” I tell the girl who can’t seem to think of anyone but herself. “Firstly, we would fail our assignment, which is a big deal. And secondly, people would die, which, you know, is also a big deal!”

“But it’s cold!” complains Jasmine, as though that should be reason enough for letting a bunch of human hikers be led to their deaths by a will-o’-the-wisp.

“So shield yourself! You are in possession of some magical abilities, remember?”

“Oh. Yeah. I forgot.”

I’m about to ask Jasmine why she even wants to be a guardian when I see it: a bobbing light gleaming faintly through the mist.

“Hey, there’s someone else out there,” shouts one of the hikers we’ve been keeping up with.

“Okay, you ready?” I say to Jasmine.

“Wait, what are we doing again?”

I force down the almost overwhelming urge to strangle her. “We create our own lights, remember? We draw the humans this way instead. The will-o’-the-wisp gets jealous, follows the humans, and we catch it. Any of that sound familiar?”

“Uh, sort of.”

Sort of? SORT OF?

I turn back toward the will-o’-the-wisp, wondering if any trainee has ever killed their assignment partner before.

~  ~  ~

Like this flash fiction? Find out more about the Creepy Hollow series.
If you'd like to know more about my A to Z flash fiction pieces, read my A to Z Challenge Theme for 2012 post.