All I had to do was keep my mouth shut and I might never have gotten myself into this situation.

Right now my best friend since forever, Wyatt, and I were tied to chairs in a secret underground hideout for the fairies.

Most people would imagine the fairies to be like Tinker-Bell, right? Well, so did I, until I met Raven. Raven was the most obnoxious person I have ever met in my 16 years of living. He was loud, rude, and disrespectful to EVERYONE.

Raven came up to me one day and I thought nothing of it; it’s not like I was hideous, and I didn’t wear bright, happy colors like everyone else in my hippie school did. I was at my locker minding my own business, trying to avoid the student counsel, and up he walked. Actually, walked isn’t the right word for it--strutted is more like it.

This wasn’t the first time I had seen him. When you’re from such a small town, like me, your business is everybody’s business. According to rumors, he had gotten expelled from his last school because he murdered one of the teachers. I’ve also heard that he came to this school because of our fantastic test scores (that one was from the teachers).

Anyway, he came up to me and asked if I wanted to go with him to a concert that night. Raven also said that Wyatt could come (apparently even the new guy knew what good friends we were). Without asking Wyatt, I said we would come.

That, my friends, is how I ended up under the stage and half-way unconscious.

I bet you’re wondering how this happened. Well, so am I. This is all I have put together so far, so I hope you appreciate it.

After school I walked home with Wyatt and along the way I told him about the concert.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea going to a concert with Raven. You’ve heard the rumors, just like I have,” said Wyatt.

“Yeah, but that’s exactly what they are, rumors. Besides, you’re coming so I’ll be perfectly fine.”

Wyatt still looked worried, but he agreed to go anyway. What a good best friend. When we got to Wyatt’s house we went inside to kill time until the concert at 8.

Eight o’clock couldn’t come soon enough. After we finally got to the park, where the concert was, Raven was already there leaning on his motorcycle waiting for us. It was already getting dark and I expected not to get home until midnight. How wrong I was.

We watched the concert for about 2 hours when some of Raven friend’s showed up. They all looked like they were from a gang; they had dark clothing, piercings, and tattoos. The tattoos were all different, except the same black bird. The black bird was put in a number of different places, all visible, all the same, but not a feather out of place.

Some of Raven’s friends were cool, like this girl named Skai, while others were just too intense for my taste. Wyatt seemed to be engulfed in a conversation with a small pixie-like girl a good foot shorter than him. After a while the concert ended and I had nothing to do. Raven had disappeared with one of his friends and Wyatt was still talking to the girl--Freya I learned later. I didn’t want to ruin it for him so I went over and sat on one of the concrete barriers surrounding the edge of the park. Sitting there seemed to make time go slower and I didn’t know how long it had been until one of Raven’s friends came over and sat by me.

“I’m Jace.” He said. “Do you need a ride home? Some of us were leaving soon.”

“No, I’m good. I’ll just wait for my friend.”

“If you mean Raven, he’s not coming back.” I must have had a shocked look on my face because he just laughed, even though I didn’t know how he could see through the dark.

“I’m actually not waiting for him. I came here with him.” I said trying to point at Wyatt but he seemed to have disappeared.

“Crap” I heard Jace mutter under his breath. “It can’t be starting already.”

“Wait, what’s starting?” I asked “Anyways, it was nice talking to you, but I really should go find my friend.”

As I was getting up to leave Jace pulled me back down “No,” he said with urgency in his voice. “You need to come with me.” I was getting scared now, so I pulled my arm out of his grasp and quickly walked off to find Wyatt.

It was going fine… until I accidently collided with a body. “Oh My Gosh, I’m so sorr--- Raven?” I asked looking up. “I thought you left.”

“Now who told you that? I would never leave one of the guests of honor all alone. No, I simply had to make sure the other one was comfortable.”

“Wha---?” I tried to ask when Rave suddenly pulled out a vial of silver liquid and forced me to drink it.

I flashed in and out of consciousness, hearing only fragments and pieces.

“What do you plan to do with her?” a voice said.

“Do you think the queen will be happy you finally found her?” another said.

Then one I recognized faintly.

“Just let her go, Julian. Why are you now deciding to serve Her Majesty?” Jace said

“Never call me that!” He yelled at Jace. “I decided to serve the queen when I realized what price she was going to pay for this… this… creature!”

That was the last of what I heard before I slipped into nightmare filled unconsciousness.

When I woke up I had the worst headache in my life. My hands were bound too tightly behind me and it felt like I was losing circulation in them. It was dark in the room, but I could see the outline of a body standing, leaning against the wall. Something moved behind me and I realized it was Wyatt just waking up and struggling to get out of his bonds.

“I see you have both woken up,” Raven said. “Welcome to the Fairy Tunnels. Try not to get too acquainted; you won’t be around that long.”

“Why are we here, Raven? What do you want with us?” I inquired

“Always asking questions; why don’t you just accept the fact that none of them will ever be answered? But I’m felling generous today so I’ll answer the second question. I don’t want anything with you, the queen does. Well she wants you, I don’t know what she will do with him.” He said indicating Wyatt with his head. Just then a young boy no older then 14, walked in and spoke to Raven in a hushed voice.

“The queen has arrived, Master. She is wondering when she is allowed to see the prisoners.”

“I’m done with them. You can send Her Majesty in.” The boy left through a door I didn’t see before and was replaced by three tall figures in robes, one of which was female. Raven went over to her and talked to her in a hushed tone; I couldn’t hear. She threw back her hood and underneath was a beautiful face.

“I am Queen Crystallin, but you, Halfling, may call me Your Majesty.” She spoke with a tone of superiority. The other two figures threw back the hoods of their cloaks. Once again I was struck by the beauty of them.

“I figure you already know who I am, or do you just like kidnapping innocent teenagers, Your Majesty.” I said

“You are anything, but an innocent teenager, Avalon Reynolds.” The queen yelled at me. “You are a Halfling, half human half fairy. Your father brought shame to his name by falling in love with a mortal. It might not have been a big issue if he was a normal commoner, but he was a prince. That’s not it though; he was engaged to be married, to me.”

It took me a moment to grasp this thought, my father a fairy prince, no way. He wouldn’t even read me fairy tales because he didn’t want to fill my mind with false stories about happy endings. After my mom died he pretty much stopped talking to me, except when he was scolding me from getting in trouble, a typical human father, definitely not a fairy prince.

“I’m here to collect what’s rightfully mine, you. You were supposed to be my daughter, not some mortal woman’s. Come along, off to my kingdom. Grab her, Orion.” The tall figure on the left walked over to me and jerked me to my feet. “We must get out of here quickly before the Outcasts come.”

We were walking down the halls for a very long time when I suddenly heard a Thump, then another and another. I tried to look behind me but Orion forced me to keep looking forward. Starting off again we went a little ways until the figure on the left of me fell to the ground, then down went Orion, letting me go as he fell. I was finally able to look behind me and I saw all of the guards on the ground, the Queen looked just as worried as I was. Suddenly I was yanked upwards toward the ceiling. I was afraid I was going to hit it when the person who had grabbed me jumped down, with me in his arms.

As I was being set down I looked up at the assailant. It was Jace. Figures kept falling from the ceiling until there was enough to surround the queen.

“Why do you Outcasts always have to get involved with kingdom politics? You could have just allowed me to take the girl.” The Queen said

“We would never get involved in kingdom politics.” Jace replied. “We only ever get involved when it affects the human world, which was our charge to guard.”

“That fiend does not belong to the human world. She is a Halfling.”

“No, she does apply. Just because her father was a fairy, does not mean she is a Halfling. Her father gave up that world and you can’t force Avalon to go with you. She is under the jurisdiction of us and until she goes to you with free will, she will always be. Swear that you will leave her alone. You may not meddle in her life or we will take measures into our own hands, and you know how we can be.”

“I swear, but mark my words she is trouble, like her mother. You should really just let me take her, and if she’s too much for you to handle you know where to find me.” With that the queen disappeared leaving behind a smell of burning leaves; how odd.

We stood there in the silence afterward until I finally spoke, “Thank you for saving me from that beast. If I can just go get my friend then I can be on my way.” As I was walking off, Jace grabbed my arm.

“Some of my followers have already released him. He will be waiting for you at the top of these tunnels, which I will lead you to.”

Jace and I walked in silence for a while when Jace said, “You do know you will never be free of us. We are going to have to watch you from now on to make sure Crystallin doesn’t come after you again. I’ll tell my followers to not interfere with your life unless it’s necessary. Here is my phone number, call me anytime you are in danger, or you just want someone to talk to,” he said, handing me a piece of paper. And with that, we came to a staircase leading up. As we walked I grabbed his hand and wrote my phone number down on it with a sharpie from my pocket, “If you ever need to talk to me” I told him.

We came to the end of the stairs and into open space. Wyatt saw me before I saw him and he ran toward me pulling me into a hug, asking if I was alright. I responded that I was, and at that moment I was. Off Wyatt and I walked, to face the wrath of our parents for staying out so late. It’s weird that my life can go from normal to supernatural then back again so quickly.