Free Faerie by Jenna Grey Page A

new girl would be a better sister to him than she’d ever been. She’d say sorry to him when she got back home.
    Lily let the rain wash over her, wanting it to make her clean, and loving the feel of it on her face. Her glasses were steaming up and she had to take them off to wipe them every so often. She suddenly realised that the rain, as refreshing as it was, was going to wash away the talcum powder and pan-stick, leaving behind a scrubbed and shiny bright fairy, for all the world to see. She’d have to stop off somewhere and redo it before she got to school. Her clothes were getting soggy, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to wash away all of the misery of last night. Every time she closed her eyes she could see that creature on top of her, feel him between her legs, like the lingering touch of a slug on her skin. Her belly felt raw and uncomfortable, as if there was some residue of that darkness still left there. She wanted to flush it out, feel clean again, but she thought that perhaps she would never feel clean again. Then the dreadful thought hit her that that creature might have left more than semen behind. It couldn’t be possible that she could get pregnant by it, could it? The thought was too terrible to entertain. She kept seeing visions of a little shadow baby, nursing at her breast, suckling. She forced the images away.
    All of these years she had thought that she was safe behind the greasepaint, but it had only been illusion, last night had proved that a lie; she had never really been safe.
    She approached the stretch of the road where the sheep’s carcass had been with trepidation, but all traces of it had gone. All that was left was a trampled patch of mud, and large booted foot prints that were rapidly being washed away. She wondered what had gone through the poor owner’s mind as he carted the carcass away. How could anyone explain such inexplicable barbarism? It had been a cruel ploy to trick Lily into believing that she had any chance of defending herself against those creatures. Psychological warfare at its best. Offer the victim a crumb of hope, a chance of escape, let them think that they might be able to fight back, and then cruelly snatch it away from them at the last minute. She knew the djinn were malicious tricksters, but dear God, had she ever underestimated them.
    She carried on walking, melancholy, letting her tears mingle with the rain and glad that no-one could see her. As soon as she got into college she rushed straight to the loo, locked herself in a cubicle and reapplied the talcum powder and pan-stick, cursing herself for her cowardice.
     
    The day passed tortuously slowly, and Lily had spent much of it thinking dark thoughts, of Shadow people and pain. Not surprisingly the three Bs weren’t in college, but the thought of their suffering was no consolation. Their brand of cruelty was nothing compared to that of the creatures that had attacked her last night; they were just children playing games in comparison. Almost all of the students were exchanging phone numbers and addresses, hands covered in Biroed scribblings, scraps of paper flying in all directions, with people promising to keep in touch. There were still three days left of the term, technically, but a lot never bothered to come in for those few days, it was hardly worth it, because all they did was play music and mess around – nobody did any work. She stood on the side lines, watching, and thought little of it when no-one approached her to exchange information – she hadn’t really expected anyone to. She looked around for Gary, but he’d obviously decided to take the day off.
    Everyone was disappearing now, the classrooms emptying, as groups of friends drifted off and she was finally left alone in the class room. The last day of this part of her life, and it was strange to think that she would never come back into this room again, never come to the college again. All of those people had gone from her life and