The Huldra Hostility Read online

  Shy's mom parked in one of the vast parking ramps adjacent to the Mall, and they set off for the entrance. Shy was excited to get new stuff. He was too old to bound along beside his mom, but he felt like it inside. He could hardly contain his excitement.

  They crossed the walkway to the third floor Mall entrance. Once they passed through the glass doors, Shy's mom immediately turned to him and asked if he needed to use the restroom.

  "Mom!" He whispered. Sometimes his mom just couldn't break her old habits. He hid his embarrassment and quickly looked around to see if anyone standing nearby might have heard.

  A gaggle of girls, slightly older than Shy, passed by without a second glance. He was grateful for that, and glanced the other direction. A group of several unsavory looking boys were loitering by the wall. Shy felt something strange when he looked at them. They had jeans belted far below their waist, and scowls on their faces. That wasn't what caught his eye, though. As his eyes roved past, the boys blurred slightly.

  Shy was instantly on alert. He had continued refining his ability, as Shep had told him to do, and was now at the point where he didn't always need to specifically be looking for Glamour. He didn't need as much focus, sometimes he just sensed it. This was one of those instances. He was surprised as he began to follow his mom. Inside the Mall of America wasn't somewhere he had thought he would find fairies.

  When he glanced back, he did see small creatures peeking from behind the group of boys. All he could see was they appeared to be carrying some type of small bows, and they had pointy brownish-red hats. The little beasties didn't stay out in the open for long. They popped out for a second, and then would duck back behind their human shields. One of the boys saw him staring and pointed him out to the others. They began to follow him, and so did the little creatures with pointy red hats.

  Shy hurried to catch up with his mom; she was looking at the mall directory sign. So, now he had two problems. He needed to get away from his mom for a while, so he could go buy The Faerie with the money his dad had given him for Christmas. He had saved it for just this purpose. Now, however, he had to worry about the gang of boys slowly following him, and their fairy counterparts!

  His mother quickly directed them to the sporting goods store, and Shy agreed to the first sleeping bag she suggested. She was surprised at his quick agreement, but certainly not unhappy about it. This was all part of Shy's plan. He knew that his mother could not resist doing some additional shopping. She often came away with nothing, but she loved to look for that one special deal. Shy was counting on that fact, and after she had paid, she asked him if he minded if she looked around for a while at a few stores. Again he agreed.

  As they exited, he glanced every which way, but could not see the gang of boys any longer. They walked to the third floor of one of the large department stores, and his mom transitioned into shopping mode.

  It was time, and he launched the second part of his plan.

  "Mom?"

  "Yes?" she answered in a preoccupied way.

  "I was wondering if I could meet you somewhere in like… an hour?"

  She immediately looked at him suspiciously, and he gave her his best innocent smile.

  "I just wanna walk through the amusement park and check out the new rides," he lied.

  Her suspicion softened, and she agreed to meet him by the elevators in one hour. He was elated!

  After leaving the store, he quickly found the directory, and the store he was looking for. It was on the lowest level, so he scooted to the escalators and descended. As he rode down, he looked into the crowds. His eyes drifted to the shoppers ascending on the escalator next to him.

  Riding up, just a few people away, were the boys he had escaped earlier. They did not see him yet, so he quickly moved to the other side of the escalator. He began to sweat. He didn't see if the red capped fairies were still stalking along with the boys. He simply kept his head down and didn't look back.

  Shy reached the first floor and still trying to remain hidden, he moved off in the direction of the store he wanted by walking closely with an overweight couple who were deeply engrossed in their conversation. They didn't notice the lean, sandy-haired boy slinking along behind them.

  When they passed his target store, he ducked in and hid behind a rack. He watched out the entrance to the shop for several minutes, but did not see the boys… or the red caps.

  "Can I help you?" came the sneering voice that self important adults often use with children they have determined are a nuisance.

  Shy turned and saw a tall, thin man in wire rimmed glasses.

  "I was looking for a book…" Shy began.

  Before he could continue the man interrupted, "I think you must be in the wrong place. The books you would be looking for are up on the second floor, in the mega book store."

  Shy could tell he was going to be a problem, and tried to strangle the frustration he could already feel welling up inside.

  "I am looking for a book called The Faerie. It was written in 1631. Your website said you have copies…" Shy said in a rush, so as not to be interrupted.

  The man raised his face, so he could look at Shy through his glasses that hung precariously at the end of his nose. "That is an expensive purchase young man…" he let the statement hang, without continuing.

  "I saved my Christmas money from my dad," Shy replied.

  The man frowned, but seemed swayed as Shy pulled the cash from his pocket. He held up a finger to Shy, and moved off to find the book.

  Shy scanned the passers-by again as he waited. He saw no sign of the gang of boys, but he felt the Glamour as he stared. He just couldn't pinpoint where it was. People passed continuously, and somewhere out there was something using the fairy magic.

  "Here you are young man…. If you would just step up to the counter please."

  Shy's attention was drawn back to the book. He walked over and paid quickly. After the tall man thanked him, Shy walked to the entrance of the shop and paused. He hated to face these creatures not knowing what they were, or if they were Seelie or Unseelie. He made a decision and took out his new purchase. He opened the book intending to look for some type of content list or index. The book fell open in his hands and he stared in disbelief at the page in front of him.

  There, in large letters, was a heading titled Reds. It was accompanied by a sketch of the very same ghoulies that had been following Shy. The book described them as murderous unseelie fairies that would use the blood of their victims to dye their hats. They were small, quick, and deadly with their little bows. It went on to say that once these vicious hunters had identified their prey they would never stop. The only thing known to slow these cunning little creatures, according to the book, was water.

  He looked up from the book and out into the mall. His vision immediately popped as he swept past the benches on the far side. There was one of the dark red hats against the wall. The creature had a very round head and wispy hairs peeking from under the pointed hat. When it saw Shy looking, it smiled a toothy smile. The teeth were pointy and widely spaced.

  Shy broke eye contact and glanced at the trees they had growing in the concourse, and the fountain beyond. His vision blurred and snapped twice. There were the two additional reds, one on each side of the decorative trees.

  Shy took a deep breath and looked at Gust's watch. He had ten minutes to make it to the elevators. The problem was how to get there without getting caught by the reds. The elevator bank was not far from his present position, but the reds had him blocked off in that direction. The mall was circular, but it would take him too long to circle around the other direction. He would need to go through them. He could do this, he told himself. He just needed a plan. He needed Daniel. Daniel always had a plan.

  Suddenly, it hit him. The book said that water would slow them. He opened his book and re-read the passage. It didn't say that it would stop them, only that it would slow them. He looked up past the two reds peeking from the decorative trees. The fountain shone in the l
ight passing through an overhead skylight. How could he get to that fountain?

  He looked at the kiosk in front of him in the middle of the concourse. It held every kind of sunglasses one could imagine. He also spied a bin of squirt guns! He probably had the money left over to buy one, and if he could reach the fountain, he could fill it. He laid out his plan in his head, and then looked down the Mall for likely suspects to aid his plan. He saw a large group of people laughing and joking, walking in a large group. Quickly he shifted to the sunglasses kiosk and purchased a little red squirt gun. A red one for the reds, he thought to himself.

  As the vendor went to get his change, Shy grimly watched the reds. The three had tensed and went on the alert as he had moved to the kiosk. Now they were beginning to shift their positions. They did not want him escaping the other direction. In the end, there was only one round wizened face framed in a dark red, pointy hat between him and the fountain.

  He pocketed his change and looked back at the group he had chosen to for his plan. They had stopped to look into the obscure book store he had just exited. Shy needed them to keep walking, towards the fountain. Every second they stalled allowed the reds to close in on him a little more!

  Finally, the proprietor staring down his nose at them in his snooty way must have pushed them on. They appeared to be a group from some type of family reunion, for they were all wearing yellow t-shirts. Shy's gold Minnesota Gophers t-shirt would allow him to fit right in. As they continued towards the fountain, Shy boldly walked into the midst of their group. He didn't need to stay with them long, just up to the fountain. The reds wouldn't do anything to him if he was surrounded by people, Shy wagered.

  The reds were adapting to his plan however. The one between Shy and the fountain cunningly moved behind a sign. The group would pass around either side of the sign, Shy realized, allowing the red to penetrate close to Shy!

  He glanced behind him, and saw that red closing in too by following jumping from behind one shopper, then another. Shy could see them clearly, so he had to keep reminding himself that nobody else could. The diminutive reds needed to use existing structures and people to move around. It wouldn't do to have a human run into something they couldn't see. Instead, if the fairies stay close to objects or people, any issues would be blamed on those things.

  Shy turned back, and saw the group begin to part around the sign as they moved past. Shy saw a ferocious look in the red's eyes, and it looked like it was drooling! It held its bow in one hand, and quickly strung an arrow. In a panic, Shy looked around. He tried to keep one particular big-bellied, yellow-shirted man between him and the red, so the creature would not have a clear shot with its arrow. He wondered for a moment what people would think if he fell in the middle of the mall, bleeding, but with no visible reason why. There was no time to dwell on that though, the fountain was immediately to his left, and some in the family were starting to nod and point at him, and whisper about who he was.

  He broke off of the group suddenly, making the big-belly jump. He ran for the fountain and at the same time glanced back. The red by the sign had leapt up and was balancing precariously on top of the sign! He took aim and fired, but the big-bellied man in the yellow shirt was turned to glare at Shy as he departed the group. The man drifted to the right as he looked left… and bumped the sign just as the red loosed his bow!

  Shy ducked though there was no need. The arrow had glanced off the top of the fountain. Shy quickly held his squirt gun under the water to fill it. He stole a glance back again. The three reds had all gathered now by the sign and watched him warily as he raised the full gun from the fountain. He tested it by squirting the fountain, just as a Mall security guard approached.

  "Hey, get outta there! That's a fountain, not a sink!"

  "S-Sorry," Shy stuttered as he frantically searched for the reds. They had disappeared.

  "Are you alright? Are you here by yourself?" The guard pushed for answers, and Shy realized he must have appeared to be acting awfully strangely.

  "Yeah… I'm OK. I'm meeting my mom right over there in a few minutes."

  "OK, well… put that water gun away. I don't want to see you squirting anyone... or anything…. Clear?" he said forcefully. "And get away from the fountain," the officer added.

  The officer walked on, but checked back over his shoulder to make sure Shy was following instructions. Shy, for his part, edged away from the fountain towards the elevators, but tried to sight the three reds. The shifty little fairies had disappeared!

  ***

  Shy's mom showed him her bargain purchases when she arrived a few minutes later. Then, with a deeply satisfying sigh she said, "So… it appears you have also made a purchase. What did you buy?"

  "Awww…. Just a book to bring up to summer camp," Shy said.

  "That's nice, Honey. Did you use some of the money your father gave you?"

  Shy nodded, while scanning the crowd.

  "Listen Honey, I've been thinking…. Maybe we don't get a chance to do enough fun stuff together. How would you like to go on a few rides?"

  Shy looked up, startled. Of all the times for her to give in, why did it have to be when he had bloodthirsty little fairy creatures in brownish-red hats trying to hunt him down with their bows and arrows, and no one else able to see it happen, he thought to himself.

  "Mom, I'm kinda tired…. We don't need to spend the money on that."

  She must have misunderstood his tone because she insisted, and he knew his mother. Once she became set on something, it was easier to go along than it was to argue.

  Off they walked, to the ticket kiosk in the amusement park, with Shy craning his neck every which way. He was worried that the reds were following him. They knew he was onto them, and in these crowds it wouldn't be too difficult for them to avoid human sight.

  Shy, after his mother's continued prodding, decided to hit the main roller coaster first. As he waited in line, he saw his mom watching. He put on a smile and tried to look excited as he waved to her. That satisfied her, and she went to sit down on a bench and wait for him. He certainly didn't want to say that he didn't want to go on the rides. He couldn't tell her the real reason, or he would end up in the psycho ward. Maybe he could make it through this ride and pretend he was sick, he wondered. Of course, that would mean outright lying to his mom. It would be better if he could just make it through these few rides. He could do it, he told himself.

  The line moved slowly but steadily. As he approached the front, he began to relax. There was no sign of the aggressive little reds. He had been watching in every direction, just waiting for his vision to blur and snap, like it did when he came across the fairy Glamour.

  Shy manipulated the line, and ended up in the back car of the coaster. Last summer he had been convinced by Henry that the last car was always the best place to sit. Of course that conversation had set off an argument between Henry and Sawyer about which was better, the front or the back. Shy didn't have much experience with rides, but Henry's explanation had made sense to him. The talkative boy in the Buddy Holly glasses had described the back of the roller coaster as the end of a whip. While the front car went slow over the first rise, the last car would be pulled by the momentum of the front and whip right over.

  His turn was next. He watched the ride pull off from the boarding platform and lurch up the initial rise. The screams rang out throughout the indoor amusement park as the exhilarated riders encountered the first drop. Shy felt some butterflies launch around in his stomach. This might actually be fun, he began to hope.

  His hopes were dashed soon enough! After he buckled in and the attendant had yanked on the straps to make sure they were tight, Shy looked forward to the front and his vision blurred and snapped. Pop, pop, pop. Three times for three red hats that ducked down between unknowing riders. They had found him!

  The ride jerked forward and Shy was in panic mode. He was a sitting duck strapped in as he was. He squirmed to test how far he could move, and the man next to him smiled evilly. />
  "Why are you so nervous little boy?" the man asked Shy as they chunk-chunked up the first rise.

  Shy looked at him. He had wire-rimmed glasses and long hair pulled back in a pony tail. There was something about him that looked familiar to Shy, but he did not have time to think about it. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye as the front cars crested, and turned forward. He saw all three round faces capped in red, rise on skinny limbs and uncannily balance on the back of each car they were in. Simultaneously they jumped. Shy sharply sucked in a breath, as they each landed one car closer! They had uncanny balance and agility. Quickly they ducked in between the front riders in their respective cars. If the riders noticed, they gave no indication.

  Screams erupted as the descent began, and just as Henry had described, Shy's back car picked up speed. As the riders held their hands in the air, and Shy's stomach lifted into his throat, like sometimes happened to him in an elevator, the little faces again popped up and climbed into the back seat of their cars. One even used a rider's raised arm to balance itself as it climbed over the back of the seat!

  Again they ducked down. Shy didn't understand why they were being so sneaky. Here he was pinned in his seat. He was a target waiting for an arrow. Then it hit him! He had the gun still! He looked down and could see the squirt gun in the front pocket of his shorts. If he could only get it out with the ride restraints pulled tightly across his lap. He glanced back at the reds. The closest peeked up, but did not move any closer. Shy squirmed and began to work the gun out of his pocket. As he did, the man sitting next to him leaned over and scolded him to sit still. Shy looked up at him, and then back at the reds. The closest one had risen above the seat yet again, but this time he held his bow in his hands, with the arrow nocked!

  The little fey hunter let his arrow fly! Shy leaned as far to the right as he could and screamed. The arrow flew over the back of the seat between Shy and the man, who had conveniently leaned the other way.