Chapter 24

Zalli opened her eyes to discover Yoltzin’s face directly in front of her sight. He had his forehead touching hers and his hands cupping her jaw.

“Santa mia!”

The up close perspective caused the young woman to shriek and push the already falling man away. Her shove was hard enough to make her lose her own balance. Zalli fell off the stool she sat on, but someone from behind caught her and pushed her back into her seat. To Yoltzin’s luck, no one was behind him to catch his fall, so he collapsed to the floor.

When Zalli turned her head around, she saw it was Tepi behind her, who was no longer in a green glow. She spoke first to the fairy.

“Hey. So, where are we?”

Tepi dropped her hands away from Zalli’s shoulders. She looked around with a frown.

“Yes, where are we?” Her response left Zalli disorientated. The fairy continued speaking after she took a gander around the room they were all in. “It looks like a kitchen. A fancy one at that.”

Zalli swiveled on her seat to observe her surroundings.

Colors accented the muted white walls to make the room seem less clinical. Dark purple and bright pink appeared in the backsplash design above the counters and in the wall paintings. The cookware hanging above the island held different shades of dark gray.

As she stood up, a scraping sound of a nearby tea cup emitted from her fingers bumping into the porcelain. Zalli stared at it with a quizzical expression before she walked over to the crumpled Yoltzin.

She grabbed his wrist and placed another force field around his sleeping form.

“Let’s get out of here, Tepi.”

Zalli held determination in her voice as she spoke. Tepi nodded her head with a grim expression.

The group moved into the living room, with Zalli dragging the fae behind them. Tepi jogged ahead to search for a mirror they could use; she moved around to different entryways.

The young woman observed how the dark purple she noticed in the kitchen was more prominent within the room. The furniture held the dark shade while the walls were painted with a dark gray.

In her survey, Zalli lost sight of the fairy. She released a sigh then called out to her friend with a realization.

“Tepi! I can just create a mirror for us.”

“I found one! It’s right here, in the hallway!”

Tepi hollered to Zalli at the same time. The fairy stuck her head out with her hand holding onto the edge of the opening. She waved a hand to Zalli with a rapid beckoning gesture, then disappeared behind the wall.

Zalli shrugged a shoulder, then moved towards the opening. She had to move around a couch to arrive at Tepi’s destination. The maneuver accidentally bumped Yoltzin into the edge of the couch’s backrest. With the walls of the force field, the slight bump caused his body to deflect away from the impact. His figure only moved with a small bounce.

Zalli took notice of the accident, but only gave a placid frown. As she reached the opening, Yoltzin groaned from behind her. She froze with wide eyes.

The young woman turned to look behind her to investigate if the fae was waking up. The seconds that passed by were perceived as minutes to her. Yet, no other movement came from the man.

“Zalli, hurry!” Even though she was going to move again, Tepi’s voice helped to spur her advancement. With a new sense of urgency, Zalli picked up her pace and hauled the man. Once she was within the dark entryway, she peeked around to scan for the fairy. “Over here!”

Zalli detected Tepi’s voice from behind. She made a pivot in that direction and tugged Yoltzin with a whipping motion until she was next to the fairy. It was awkward considering she kept knocking into the walls from the clunkiness of her energy walls.

The young woman grabbed her friend’s hand once again, and together they moved through the tall mirror. Even though they did not have to crouch their heads down, Zalli struggled a bit as she entered from steering Yoltzin to follow behind them.

A cold blanket surrounded the group. The bright light from before flashed once more, and alongside each other, they left the first level of Zalli’s dream.

. . •⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ . .

When Zalli opened her eyes, she found herself in a compromising position. She lay on her bed with her hands tied together by a metal wire; they rested on her lap. Yoltzin initially hovered above her, with his forehead resting against hers. Although, once they returned to their physical bodies, he remained unconscious and fell on top of her.

His weight dropping on her forced Zalli to grunt from the impact. At an awkward angle, his face rested on hers. She turned her head away, which caused his nose to fall into the crook of her neck. Yoltzin inhaled with a deep breath, as if he was aware of Zalli’s presence.

“Ugh, get off!”

She exclaimed to him with a rough push. He fell down to the floor once again. The young woman sat up at an abrupt pace. She tried to pull her hands apart with formidable effort.

As she clenched her core from the strain, she noted she was creating a small gap in her attempts. But she also felt the wires cutting into her skin, which caused some pain. Zalli grunted in defeat. When she debated if she should risk the bodily harm for her escape, she heard a groan come from next to her.

Zalli turned her head and noticed Tepi was lying by her side. The fairy, in her human-sized form, sat up as well. She rubbed her face in an attempt to get herself to wake up.

“Hey, Tepi,” Zalli said in a soft voice.

“Hey.”

The young woman adjusted her body to face the fairy. She brought her hands up and displayed her restraint.

“Do you think you can help me get this off?”

Tepi turned her head to stare at the wire with a groggy gaze. She scrutinized the metal before she gave her response.

“Oh, yeah. It looks like it’s copper.”

The fairy changed herself to a kneeling position on both knees. She inched closer to Zalli. Tepi grabbed a forearm and brought the wire close to her face to see where the end could be.

After she moved her head about, she finally found it. Tepi had to use her fingers first to grab the end. It proved to be difficult since it seemed to be secured within the grooves of the wound wire.

Zalli sat with patience and hoped the fairy could get a good grasp of the restraint. If Tepi could not undo the wire, then Zalli would have no choice but to fight against the compact strength the wire gave from being wrapped around itself.

When Tepi created a small lip from her fingers clenching around the end, Zalli looked behind her shoulder and investigated Yoltzin’s condition. She had almost forgotten about his presence.

Considering how he was still unconscious—to her mild surprise—she focused on creating another energy barrier around him. She felt a mellow heat grow within her body. In that same moment, Tepi got a good grab of the wire end and made the first pull around her wrists.

Zalli completed her task before Tepi did, so the young woman sat in an uneasy silence. It was a struggle for Tepi, since Yoltzin had wrapped the wire around Zalli’s wrists several times. On top of that, it was not always easy for the fairy to unravel the restraint in a smooth manner; sometimes the metal would bend at an odd angle from the direction it was being pulled from.

Having immense strength was not something fairies were known for.

With a triumphant grin, Tepi finally managed to free her friend, even if it took some time. Zalli rubbed her wrists where the skin became raw and indented from the wires. The depression had a red hue, and it gnarled up the lifted skin.

The young woman brought her legs to hang on the edge of her bed with a swing. She faced away from Tepi as she asked her a question.

“Why do you think he is still knocked out? You don’t think it is possible that ...”

Tepi completed the thought that Zalli did not want to say out loud.

“That he is still in your subconscious? I really hope not.”

The fairy pushed herself off the bed and walked around it. She placed herself to stand across from Zalli with the sleeping fae between them.

“What can we do?”

Zalli inquired to Tepi without taking her eyes off of the fae.

“Hmm. Maybe we need something more imitate than just physical contact to pull him out.”

“Something more intimate? Like, what?”

The young woman snapped her eyes to the fairy with scrunched eyebrows. She noticed her friend stood with her hands on her hips. She bore a serious look, and her voice held no hint of mirth.

Not that Zalli figured Tepi was making a joke right now. She had only hoped she was—considering it seemed like she was insinuating something Zalli did not want to do. And even though she had yet to say it out loud, she made a muted wish Tepi would not, which left them in a tense silence.

Zalli glanced at the mirror resting on her dresser in front of her bed. A flash of her shadow self appeared behind her body before it disappeared. She turned around to check if anything was actually there, but discovered nothing. When she looked in the mirror again, she saw nothing there as well.

Then, a whisper of a thought appeared in her mind.

You need to kiss him. Kiss him awake.

It was a thought that sounded like Zalli’s voice, but she recognized it as something that came not from her own consciousness. She looked at the mirror, and did not see red eyes looking back at her. Yet, she knew it was the owner of those eyes that had spoken just now.

Hesitance was in her voice as she proposed the thought to Tepi.

“Do you think ... do you think a kiss would wake him up?”

The fairy tilted her head and placed her finger on her bottom lip in contemplation.

“A kiss? That could work ... some spells require that.”

“Ah ... But isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”

Zalli jumped to her feet and walked away. She found herself at her dresser, staring at her reflection. She searched for a different solution with a hard gaze.

Tepi called out to her from her spot.

“Zalli. The man invaded your mind and took over your dreams. I think we are beyond that.”

The young woman dropped her head low. She sighed a long breath. Then she flipped herself around and leaned against the furniture with her hands gripping the edge.

“Ugh ... okay, fine.” She pushed herself forward and stood in front of Yoltzin’s feet. She crossed her arms and jutted her hip out to one side. “What are we going to do when he wakes up—if he wakes up?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t just leave him imprisoned in my house. And it’s not like we can take him to the authorities. No police wants to deal with the supernatural, crime dealing or not.”

Tepi placed herself next to Zalli and crossed her own arms.

“That can be the next step to figure out next? Let’s just get him out of your head so he’s not in there learning things.”

Zalli rubbed the back of her neck and turned her head away from the fae with her eyes closed. Once she pushed air out through her nose with a hard flex of her stomach, she walked to the fae’s side. The young woman knelt down on both of her knees. She brought her palms up and rested them on her energy barrier.

With firm concentration, she enlarged the barrier to include her own body. When she found herself inside, she scooted in close to Yoltzin. Then, she placed her hand underneath Yoltzin’s head and lifted it up to wedge her lap underneath. She used her other hand to lift his shoulders, making the adjustment easier.

Zalli allowed the fae to rest on her lap. She kept the hand she used to lift his head in the same position while the other rested by her side; it carried a restless energy, not really wanting to stay still, but also unsure how to be placed. Zalli closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose with a powerful pull.

After her quick exhale, she opened her eyes. She lifted Yoltzin’s head up and brought her own head down. Doubt creeped into Zalli’s mind as their lips barely met in the middle—only a millimeter gap between them. She flicked her eyes to analyze his calm expression before she brought it back down to his lips.

Then she moved in without further thought and pressed her lips against his with a gentle touch. She kept her eyes open to be cautious; she wanted to make sure she could move away the moment he regained his consciousness.

As some time passed, Zalli thought to pull back. She blinked her eyes at a rapid pace and made to remove her head, but then she had to halt all movements. Yoltzin’s lips molded against hers, while hers remained stone still.

He pulled at her lips with a soft tug; her heart seemed to pull down like a yo-yo. Zalli flicked her eyes to his and brought her eyebrows down when she saw his eyes were still closed. Since his body seemed to move on its own, the young woman decided it was time to end the kiss, even if it meant he would not wake up.

The moment Zalli removed her lips, Yoltzin snapped his eyes opens and reached his hand forward to grasp Zalli’s neck. He wrapped his fingers around her nape and squeezed. It was tight enough to cause Zalli to feel discomfort, but it wasn’t enough to make her lose her breath.

He steeled a harsh gaze as he tried to make sense of the situation. Zalli noticed Tepi call for her but only looked at Yoltzin with bright, unflinching eyes—their lips remained in front of each other. With each heavy breath they took, an accidental collision of their flesh would occur; neither knew who was actually at fault.

When the fae finally realized who he held within his hand, his eyes softened and his grip became loose around Zalli’s neck. The young woman took no risk of losing the small gap of opportunity given to her for an escape. She smacked Yoltzin hard on his nose and pushed him off of her lap.

“What the hell!”

Yoltzin yelped as he covered his face. The man rolled over to lie on his side as he experienced a tingling heat form across his nose. Zalli crawled backwards with her knees facing up; she pushed herself away from him and removed herself from her force field.

Tepi ran to her side and helped Zalli to stand up. The fairy held Zalli’s hand while her other arm went around her back and hugged her shoulder. They stood side by side as they observed the man before them turn back to face them, still covering his nose with one hand.

He tried to sit up, but because of Zalli’s force field, he could not actually sit, and bumped his head on his way up.

“Mother–.”

With a harsh whisper of his curse, he fell back onto one elbow. The hand that had been covering his nose was now soothing the pain that radiated from his crown.

Yoltzin remained in his laying position as he glanced at the duo that were gawking at him. He said nothing at first. Instead, he took to observing his surroundings as he became more alert.

Once he finished placing the puzzle pieces together, he dropped his arm down to place weight on that elbow, just like its counterpart. Yoltzin crossed his ankles and turned his head to regard Zalli with an intense stare. When he spoke, his tone held a sense of friendliness that countered the stern expression he had on his face.

“I guess you actually won, huh, little thorn?”

Zalli squinted her eyes at the fae. She brought a nostril up, as if she was going to growl. By contrast, she flipped her face away from Yoltzin to settle her nerves.

Just as she was about to take a calming breath, Zalli heard a muffled knock come from her front door. The young woman anticipated the barking she became conditioned to hear, but she only heard silence in consequence.

She looked at Tepi with raised eyebrows. No longer concerned about the fae, she spoke with a deep voice.

“I will ... find out who that is. Keep an eye on him for now.”

Tepi widened her eyes. She lifted her eyebrows and pressed her lips together into a frown.

“Is that thing going to keep him inside?”

Tepi pointed her finger in Yoltzin’s direction. At that moment, he pressed his palm against the barrier’s ceiling and pushed upward with a firm motion. He tensed his muscles of his exposed arm enough that some of his veins became more visible. When he dropped his arm from exhaustion, he looked at Tepi with a blatant look.

“Yes, I think you will be alright.”

Zalli responded to Tepi, even if it was Yoltzin who answered first. She placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. Then she turned to leave her bedroom and headed to her front door.

She walked down her hallway. Zalli gave a quick glance to her living room, but then kept her stare straight ahead. Everything about the place she was in felt uncanny. She knew it was what she called home, yet an unsettling energy was in the pit of her stomach as she traversed her way through.

Zalli heard her doorbell ring and more knocking as she reached the door leading to her enclosed vestibule. She frowned at the obvious impatience the unknown person held.

She grabbed the handle of the door, but then paused. Zalli looked to the right and saw an array of shoes piled next to each other. She grabbed a random pair. The young woman felt poignant not to enter the other room with bare feet.

More knocking and ringing occurred. Zalli rolled her eyes. After settling her feet, she took her time walking through the vestibule to her front door.

Standing in front of the wooden entrance, she grabbed the handle and pulled it open. On the other side, with his hand raised for another knock, was Necalli. He carried a pinched expression, but then transformed it into a charming smile when he noticed Zalli had opened the door. He spoke with an artificial sweetness in his voice.

“Council member Tlahuizcal. Busy?”