Chapter 2
The sensation that something was happening right outside of her wards startled Regina from her book to cast a weary look out of her bedroom window, where behind sheer maroon curtains the promised blizzard had begun to reach its peak. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and pulled a face at the ungodly hour. Setting her book aside, the Fae threw her covers off with a huff. She tied her robe shut over her nightie, slipping on her fuzzy house slippers before stalking closer to the window. Her countenance darkened when she spied the yellow lights of the intruder's car at the edge of her wood. The faint echo of the engine's idling filled her head like a bad song she couldn't skip.
'What could somebody be doing out in this storm that they had to disturb her at 2:10 in the morning?!' Regina growled at the sharp sound of a door slamming shut. She scrunched her nose as an angry voice echoed through her head, followed by a nasty bout of coughing that sounded like somebody was drowning.
Not in the mood for human drama, Regina moved to return to bed, ignoring the angry voice as its owner made no attempt to breach her Circle.
If they had decided to approach her wards with the intent of asking for directions, they'd have been struck with the realization that the village was just down the mountain. So long as whatever was happening didn't try to bother her wards, the Fae didn't care what the intruder did. Most likely, they were lost and needed directions or something.
'Or a doctor,' she thought, wincing with each painful sounding cough. Seriously, that couldn't be normal for a simple case of the flu.
She plumped and fussed at her pillows and blankets before settling into her nest. When silence accompanied and the threat of argument had passed, Regina fully relaxed into her spot with a satisfied purr. Snuggling soundly into her soft bedding, she picked up her book again, content to ignore the outside world in favor of the one in her hand. She had only just found her place when the sound of a car door slammed again, followed by relief as the car peeled out of the driveway. Regina hummed happily as she waited for the buzzing under her skin to settle as the intruder got farther away from her wards.
When after a while her wards didn't settle, her smirk faded into a frown. No sooner had she noticed, another bout of coughing rang through her ears, making her cringe. With a sinking feeling in her gut, Regina sat up again, opening herself to examine the net of magic protecting her home carefully.
There, in the same place the intruder had come and gone; something had been left at the border.
Her heart skipped, and a low growl escaped her throat. The Fae sprang from her bed, throwing on her robe and slippers haphazardly in her sudden rage. With no real thought and a snap of her fingers, Regina found herself at the edge of her boundary line, shin deep in powdery snow.
The only light to be seen came from the house about a mile and a half up the snow-covered driveway. The trees creaked an ominous tone in the night, only just being heard over the sound of the wind. The Fae paid no heed as a cold gust rushed through her thin clothing as her critical gaze flitted over the area before zeroing in on a dark clad figure laying in the snow.
The odd sight of the slumped over form set off alarms in her head, but the woman kept her defenses up as she stalked through the ward to confront this potential danger.
In her defense, it was 2 in the morning. Her eyes were overworked from reading all night long, and her instincts were in overdrive. So, while grabbing up this potential threat with more force than was strictly necessary, she failed to realize, in her instinct-created anxiety, that she was now manhandling a small child.
In the face of this newfound dilemma, all memory of the past fifteen minutes or so disappeared.
"What in God’s good name do you think you're doing out here, kid?! It's a damn blizzard out here!" She shrieked, horror and dread filling her as the child's head flopped uselessly. If it wasn't for the watery gasps and the stench of rot and ammonia, she would've believed the child had died.
A small voice, choked and wheezy, tried and failed to make itself heard, the fae reacting on instinct and hurriedly dragging the near limp child away from the road before falling to her own knees to hold the child up. In her panic, her mouth began asking questions faster than her brain could keep up with as her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she focused on the child's clothes.
Messy dark hair obstructed most of the child's face, but the little she could see was rapidly turning blue. The sleeves of his too large windbreaker were empty as the child had tucked his extremities within to keep warm. Worn and threadbare jeans, also too large, that were heavily stained in places were no doubt frozen solid. Snaking a hand under the dark mop of hair, she was both relieved and terrified by the heat radiating from the babe. A high-pitched keen left her as she looked at the state of the boy in her hands. Her fleshy heart turned to a puddle of goo within her chest.
The Fae's mounting anxiety attack was cut short when a tiny head nearly collided with hers. She awkwardly shifted the boy to the side and began to pat his back lightly.
Regina had never held something so small before; and yet, feeling the fevered heat of the child cooling, Regina found herself pulling the babe closer to herself with all the gentleness she possessed, rubbing his back in a manner she'd seen mother's do to comfort their young, something like a croon rumbling within her chest.
"Please."
That little plea was like an electric shock to her nervous system and all her resolve to crumble into dust.
Amidst the horrific hacking and choking, she daintily rearranged the small body till it burrowed into her chest, and she hoisted them back to her feet.
Her entire being seemed to have gone completely numb by that point, and the snow had definitely risen an inch or so in the span of a few minutes since appearing outside. But even with all of this, Regina couldn't find it in her heart to care. The child's limp body came to life for but a moment, nuzzling his cold nose into her neck. A scent marking by all intents and purpose. Regina purred and nuzzled the dirty hair, breathing deeply her newly claimed child's scent.
"Let's get you somewhere warm."
Frozen slippered feet trudged through the snow almost in a daze till she slipped through the wards again.
With a snap of her fingers, the pair vanished with a wink in the night.
A fire blazed to life in a stone hearth just as the pair appeared in the room.
The woman paused for barely a second to catch her breath before gliding over to her couch, where she deposited her burden and set to removing his shoes.
"Lights!" She snapped harshly, all gentleness fading in the wake of her newfound duty. As she demanded, the cabin filled with light just as she began working on his socks. Her gaze wandered across his form critically, taking in the erratic rise and fall of his chest and the blue lips gasping for air. The mucus-filled sound of his lungs trying to draw in breath was bone-chilling. The boy's skin had turned an alarming shade of blue, and she set to work rubbing at his toes and fingers.
"Okay, kid. I know this sucks but you're cold and wet and likely about to die if I don't get you warmed up in the next hour," She paused before snatching her knit blanket from the opposite chair, uncomfortable with what needed to be done. She winced, noticing that a large wet spot had begun to form beneath him before setting herself to action in removing the sopping windbreaker.
A child - HER child, now - was actively dying in front of her. She could worry about her furniture later.
As soon as his ratty over-large t-shirt was over his head, her eyes widened, her hand flying to her mouth in horror as newly revealed bruises and old welts littering the entirety of his back and shoulders. She hesitantly placed her fingers on them, the heat of his skin burning them as they traced what looked to be the imprint of a belt buckle. She was soon brought out of her trance as the boy shivered under her piercing surveillance, skin all shades of gray and blue turning to goose flesh. With a deep inhale, Regina swallowed down her emotion with some difficulty and continued her task.
When she'd stripped him down to his too-big skivvies, Regina proceeded to wrap the boy snuggly in the blanket and moved him to the armchair closest to the fire, taking care to prop her couch pillows around him so he wouldn't tip over. Absently running a hand over his head again, Regina reached over and snatched the phone receiver to her ear and spun the dial. She swore she could hear the plastic cracking in her grip as it rang twice before going dead. Hissing furiously, she tried again only to be met with the same dead tone. Finally slamming the receiver down, she growled furiously and threw herself onto her couch, only to shoot back up with a yelp when she sat in the puddle.
No land line, no help. What was she meant to do? She swiped at her damp bottom angrily. The distinct smell of sick now permeated the room as a mucus filled rattling turned into another fit. She watched with a growing alarm as mucus-tinged blobs of congealed blood sprayed across the front of the blanket.
There was nothing to it. She needed to do something, and she needed to do it now.
Snapping her fingers, a bag shimmered into existence at her side. Wrapping the child up like a burrito, the woman scooped the child up again, forgetting that she was still in her nightie and bathrobe. Grabbing her bag from the floor, she marched out the front door and back into the blizzard.
The snow had come above her knees now, but she pushed through it easily. The lower half of her nightie was wet and clung to her skin and her slippers were packed with ice and slush but she didn't care as she made her way to the beat-up truck sitting in her front yard.
The Fae fought with the handle before finally swinging it open with a triumphant 'aha!' and threw her bag in first before laying the limp figure across the front seat and hopping in herself. The contrasting interior of the car gave a low thrum of energy, making the hairs on the back of her arms stand. Almost instantly, the temperature began to rise, and the dash lit up with an eager flick. Since the car lacked a steering wheel, Regina only had to place her hand on the dash and imagine where she wanted to go before her home and forest shimmered and vanished before her eyes in a dizzying flash of color.
When the color settled and she realized she was outside the emergency room, Regina hopped out of the car and nearly fell from how slippery the parking lot was. She quickly removed the boy and her bag and made a mad dash to the door.
"Help! I need help!"