The Keepers

Athera

Oh my fucking God, this guy is an idiot!

I stare at the guy sitting on the other side of the counter, almost not believeing what he asked me.

I have been working at this tatoo shop for, I don't know, 6 months now, and no one has asked me a question so stupid before.

" Sir, we do NOT sell lucky trinkets. Have you read the bloody sign? This is a Tatoo shop, for Christs sake!"

"But you do sell magnets, don't you?" the stupid tourist asked.

"NO, WE DO NOT. NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE" I yelled, trying to not kill the guy right then and there. The idiot mumbled something about"bad customer service" and how " he knew Edinburgh was full of scams". I almost flipped him off.

Ben, one of our tatoo artists, came to the front desk. " What happened, mate?" I told him the whole story with the dumb tourist and how he thought this was a gift shop.

" Girl, I think you need a break. Go home, relax, socialize, go clubbing or bar hopping. What's the worst that could happen?" Ben was a ray of sunshine, and the person that got me the job at the tatoo shop. Without him, I'd be working as a bartender or a waitress. His last statement wasn't his smartest one though.

Oh I don't know, maybe get kidnapped while being drunk, or exposed for being a damn dragon?

"Fine, I'll take 2 weeks of." I agreed. I was probably going to just rot on my couch, so why not?

" Make that 2 months" Ben countered. Ain't no way he said that.

Two months without customers, or a paycheck? Yeah right, not going to happen, not in this life at least. In this world, you needed money to survive and pay your bills. 2 months was a long time without an income.

"I'll pay you your regular salary, if that helps" Well that sounded more like a deal." Fine, but don't hire someone else to replace me" I told him. This better not have been one of those veiled termination notices.

" I'm not hiring anyone else, I promise."

We shook hands and the deal was on.

It was odd that he gave two months off just like that. But the oddities were going to become the new normal in my world.

I just didn't know it yet.

"C'mon, Athera, it'll be fun to get out of the house for once!"

Daisy, my beloved roommate, is the biggest extrovert I have ever seen. Seriously, the girl would probably die without social interactions. I, on the other hand, was as antisocial as one could get. And going to a new club, even if it was so close you could walk to it, was not my idea of fun.

I enjoyed dancing and music as much as the next person, but the people... That was when things no longer went as smooth.

" The Flame is litterally a 10 minute train ride from Halloran. It's not even that far away. That's like, the next town over. AND they have a ladies night today! "

" That thing is quite secluded, since it is, y'know, IN THE WOODS!?"

"C'mon, it'll be fun! If you don't come, I'll go with Drake."

Drake. That piece of worthless scum. I will not have my bestie go with him anywhere. Fae were things to be feared and they disgusted me. Not only did they see humans as toys and objects, they were also known for their unfaithfull nature. If you were dating a Fae, the chances of that Fae dating numerous people while dating you were incredibly high.

Drake was also known to be involved in a lot of shady business. Not the best company for a young human girl living a quiet life in a small town near Edinburgh.

" ...Fine. I'll come with you. Break up with Drake after tonight" I commanded. Mind-control was not an easy thing to resist. I didn't like using it on my roommate, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. I should have done that a long time ago.

" Great, I'll get our outfits. Tonight is gonna be a blast!" Daisy was giddy with exitement. Thank the Gods the mind control worked. My Drakaar was a bit sloppy, but I was glad I didn't completely mess the command up.

I hoped tonight would be a simple night, filled with margaritas and hopefuly no supernaturals. Being a dragon was hard, but at least my magical signature was untraceable, for the most part.

I headed to the bathroom, looking in the mirror I saw my dark hair with a tinge of red at the ends , my brown contacts over dark red eyes, and a beautiful face. I was atractive, but I didn't like the attention that came with it. My luck was shit, especially with men.

Now is not the time for a sad story. You need to get ready Athera.

I pulled my hair up into what I hope looked like a respectable hairstyle, applied some mascara and eyeshadow and, the most important part, I covered my mark with some concealer. I was starting to get good at this.

All I needed to do now was find a decent outfit to wear. A simple black dress should do the trick.

Walking into my room, I suddenly understood that the black dress was no longer an option.

Daisy was standing in the middle of my room, with what looked like a black and red strapless dress.

It was lovely, I had to admit that. The bust was black, and it slowly lightened to a rose red. The frilled skirt added to the dramatic flair.

I loved it, but wasn't sure how I felt about wearing it.

Red was my color, but I didn't like the meaning of that specific shade of red.

" Please wear it! I found it yesterday and I thought you would love it!"

I do love it. But the memories surrounding that color...

I smiled. Daisy was a good person. She didn't know. She couldn't have known. And after using Mind-Control on her earlier, I felt a bit guilty.

" I'll wear it, it looks lovely!" I hoped my fake smile was enough to convince her.

Fortunately for me, it did.

I changed into the awfull crimson dress, put on my heels, and walked to the door, checking the wall-clock.

"Hurry up already, we'll miss the train!" I yelled at her. Neither of us had a car, so it was a bit harder to get to other towns. However, the public train was working just fine, so it wasn't that big a deal. You just couldn't oversleep and if the train got delayed, you could miss work that day.

Just the reality of living in the UK.

" I'm coming! What do you think?" My roomate was wearing an electric blue dress , with golden jewelry. It suited her. One would have mistaken her for a succubus. So pretty, yet so naive about the dangers of our world.

Because the world was dangerous. Whether you knew it or not, it was still dangerous and ready to swallow you whole if you weren't careful.

I had learned that from experience.