Veronica’s Story

Veronica checked her phone for the fourth time in ten minutes.

No new messages.

Nothing she could use as an excuse.

The man across from her took her silence as encouragement.

That was unfortunate.

"So," he said, leaning closer across the small table, "what kind of books do you represent?"

Veronica stared at him.

They had been on this date for nearly two hours.

She had already told him.

Twice.

"Mostly fiction."

He nodded as though this was fascinating information.

"Cool."

A painful silence followed.

Outside, rain tapped against the windows of the bar. Sunday night traffic drifted past in streaks of red and white light.

Veronica glanced toward the door.

Freedom was only thirty feet away.

"Can I ask you something?" the man said.

She already hated the tone.

"You can."

"What's your biggest turn-on?"

There it was.

She had been waiting for it.

The conversation had limped through drinks, work, childhood memories, favorite movies, and whatever fitness routine he had become emotionally attached to.

Eventually every terrible date arrived at the same destination.

The scenic route was over.

Veronica smiled politely.

"The check."

His face fell.

For a brief moment she almost felt bad.

Almost.

Twenty minutes later she stepped outside into the cool night air.

The city smelled like wet pavement and exhaust fumes.

Beautiful.

Alive.

Normal.

She dug her phone from her purse while walking toward the curb.

One new text waited.

Unknown Number.

She frowned.

The message read:

How was the date?

Veronica snorted.

Wrong number.

She ignored it.

Another text appeared.

Not great?

She stopped walking.

That was oddly specific.

Her thumbs hovered over the screen.

Before she could decide whether to respond, a third message arrived.

You should go home.

Veronica glanced up and down the street.

Nobody nearby seemed interested in her.

No one was watching.

At least no one obvious.

She typed.

Wrong number.

Three dots appeared immediately.

Then:

No.

Veronica frowned harder.

The curb beside her flooded with headlights.

An Uber.

The license plate matched.

She shook off the strange feeling crawling up her spine and climbed into the back seat.

"Veronica?" the driver asked.

"That's me."

The driver smiled pleasantly.

A man in his sixties.

Gray hair.

Kind eyes.

The sort of face people trusted automatically.

"Long night?"

"You have no idea."

The car pulled away from the curb.

Veronica settled into the seat and looked back at her phone.

Another message waited.

No more boys.

For the first time that evening she laughed.

"Honestly?" she muttered. "That's probably good advice."

The driver chuckled.

"Simon says so."

Veronica looked up.

"What?"

The driver's eyes remained on the road.

"Simon says no more boys."

A cold sensation slid through her stomach.

"Who?"

"Simon."

The driver spoke the name casually.

Like everyone knew who Simon was.

Veronica stared at him through the rearview mirror.

"Do I know Simon?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

"Then why are you talking about him?"

The driver shrugged.

"Because Simon says."

Rain whispered against the windows.

Traffic lights slid across the driver's face in shifting red and gold patterns.

Veronica suddenly wished she had taken a subway.

Another text arrived.

Her stomach tightened.

It's best if you do what Simon says.

The message appeared on her screen at the exact moment the driver spoke the same words aloud.

Veronica looked from the phone to the mirror.

The driver smiled.

Not kindly this time.

Knowingly.

"Okay," Veronica said slowly. "That's not funny."

The driver nodded.

"No."

"Pull over."

The driver kept driving.

"Pull over."

"Can't do that."

The city outside seemed wrong somehow.

Too empty.

Too quiet.

"Why not?"

The driver's smile widened slightly.

"Simon didn't say."

Veronica grabbed the door handle.

Locked.

Her pulse jumped.

Another text appeared.

That's right.

Her breath caught.

A second text followed immediately.

I didn't say.

The blood drained from her face.

"What the hell is this?"

The driver didn't answer.

Veronica hit the lock again.

Nothing.

She slammed a hand against the window.

The glass didn't even rattle.

"Let me out."

The driver reached toward the center console.

For one insane moment Veronica thought he was reaching for a weapon.

Instead he picked up a bottle of water.

"The medicine works faster if you stay calm."

Veronica stared.

"What?"

Then she remembered.

The water.

When she'd entered the car, he'd handed her a complimentary bottle.

A perfectly ordinary gesture.

One she'd accepted without thinking.

The realization hit a second before the dizziness.

The world tilted violently.

Streetlights smeared together.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

"Oh God."

The phone slipped from her fingers.

The driver watched her through the mirror.

Not smiling.

Not gloating.

Simply watching.

As though this happened every day.

Veronica fought to stay awake.

The city outside dissolved into streaks of color.

The final text appeared.

Welcome.

The phone slipped from her fingers. Then darkness swallowed everything.

Veronica awoke to birdsong.

At least she thought it was birdsong.

Something chirped overhead.

Something else answered.

A third voice laughed.

The sound drifted through the warm air and vanished.

Veronica groaned.

Every muscle in her body felt heavy.

The last thing she remembered was an Uber.

Rain.

A text message.

A man named Simon.

Her eyes snapped open.

Sunlight flooded her vision.

She sat upright immediately.

Grass stretched in every direction.

A gentle breeze rolled across the field.

For a moment she thought she might still be dreaming.

Then she saw the trees.

Blue.

Not green.

Blue.

Every trunk.

Every branch.

Every leaf.

The forest bordering the field looked as though someone had painted it with a giant brush.

Veronica climbed to her feet.

"Nope."

She rubbed her eyes.

The trees remained blue.

"Nope."

She turned in a slow circle.

The field seemed endless.

No roads.

No buildings.

No people.

Nothing.

Only grass.

Blue trees.

Her purse lay in the grass beside her.

Her phone rested on top.

She pressed the power button.

Nothing.

She kept it in her hand anyway.

It was the last ordinary thing she had.

That and a picnic basket.

The basket sat ten feet away atop a red and white blanket.

Neatly arranged.

Waiting.

Veronica stared at it.

Then at the forest.

Then back at the basket.

"Nope."

The basket continued existing.

"This is some Alice in Wonderland shit."

Her stomach growled.

Loudly.

How long had she been out?

The basket contained cheese.

Fruit.

Bread.

Water.

A sealed bottle of wine.

The sight nearly made her cry.

She checked everything carefully.

No hidden notes.

Every package remained sealed.

The ring beneath the water cap snapped when she twisted it.

No signs of whoever had left everything there.

Eventually thirst and hunger won.

It usually did.

Veronica sat cross-legged on the blanket and ate.

The cheese tasted incredible.

The water was cold.

For the first time since entering the Uber she felt vaguely human again.

Something giggled.

Veronica froze.

The sound came from the trees.

Another giggle followed.

Then another.

High-pitched.

Childlike.

She stood.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

A tiny face appeared between two blue leaves.

Veronica blinked.

The face disappeared.

A second face appeared elsewhere.

Then a third.

Tiny.

Beautiful.

Impossible.

Fairies.

Each stood no taller than her hand.

Their hair matched the color of the forest.

Bright blue.

Large eyes watched her from the branches.

One fluttered forward cautiously.

Its wings shimmered in the sunlight.

Veronica laughed.

She couldn't help it.

"Okay," she said. "Now I'm definitely dreaming."

The fairy landed beside the basket.

It pointed at a wedge of cheese.

Veronica looked from the fairy to the cheese.

"You want this?"

The fairy nodded eagerly.

Veronica handed over a small crumb of cheese.

The fairy accepted the gift.

Examined it.

Then threw it directly at her face.

The cheese struck her forehead.

The fairy collapsed into hysterical laughter.

The others joined immediately.

Dozens of tiny voices shrieked with delight.

Veronica rubbed her forehead.

"Well that's rude."

The fairy pointed again.

This time toward the bread.

Veronica hesitated.

Then pulled off a portion and handed it over.

The fairy accepted it.

Turned.

And tossed it into the forest.

The laughter became louder.

More fairies emerged.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

They appeared from every branch.

Every hollow.

Every patch of leaves.

Watching.

Giggling.

Waiting.

One pointed at the bottle of water.

Veronica narrowed her eyes.

"You little jerks are messing with me."

The fairy nodded enthusiastically.

As if proud of itself.

Veronica almost laughed.

Almost.

Then something tugged her hair.

Hard.

She yelped and spun around.

Three fairies darted away.

Laughing.

Another stole a grape from the basket.

Another ripped a large gash along the seam of her dress.

Another landed on her shoulder.

The tiny creature leaned close to her ear.

Then screamed.

Veronica nearly jumped out of her skin.

The fairies erupted.

Some rolled through the air laughing.

Others slapped their knees.

One actually fell out of a tree.

"You’re like a bunch of children," Veronica muttered.

The words left her mouth before she realized how wrong they were.

Children grew up.

Whatever these things were...

they hadn't.

The fairies suddenly became quiet.

Every head turned in the same direction.

Toward something deeper among the blue trees.

One fairy pointed.

Another nodded.

Then all of them pointed.

Waiting.

Expecting.

Veronica looked where they were pointing.

A narrow path wound into the woods.

The fairies watched her.

Smiling.

Grinning.

Waiting for her to move.

"No."

The fairies continued smiling.

"No."

One of them pointed again.

More giggling.

The path waited.

Dark and inviting.

Veronica looked toward the open field.

Then toward the trees.

Then back toward the fairies.

The little monsters looked entirely too pleased with themselves.

Which meant following them was probably a terrible idea.

Unfortunately, it was the only idea she had.

Veronica hated that she was following it.

She hated even more that she was following a swarm of fairies.

The tiny creatures darted from branch to branch ahead of her.

Whenever she slowed, they slowed.

Whenever she stopped, they stopped.

Watching.

Waiting.

A sharp crack sounded behind her.

Veronica spun.

One of the fairies hovered triumphantly beside her discarded shoe.

The heel had been snapped clean off.

The fairy held the broken piece above its head like a hunting trophy.

The others erupted into laughter.

"Very funny."

The fairy bowed.

Then tossed the heel into the forest.

Veronica stared after it.

"Seriously?"

The laughter grew louder.

She limped forward.

A minute later another fairy snatched her phone from her hand.

"What—hey!"

The fairy shot into the canopy.

Veronica chased after it.

The creature waited until she was directly beneath the branch.

Then released the phone.

The device struck a root and shattered.

The screen exploded into a spiderweb of cracks.

The fairies screamed with delight.

One actually rolled through the air clutching its stomach.

Veronica picked up the phone.

Dead.

No signal.

No battery indicator.

Nothing.

For the first time she felt genuinely alone.

The fairies watched her.

Smiling.

A strange smile.

Not cruel.

Not kind.

Interested.

Like scientists observing an experiment.

The path ended at a stream.

Crystal-clear water wound through the forest.

Sunlight reflected from the surface in shimmering ribbons of silver and blue.

The fairies immediately became excited.

They rushed toward it.

Pointing.

Clapping.

Chattering among themselves.

Veronica stayed back.

"No."

Several fairies pointed at the water.

"No."

One landed beside the stream and splashed dramatically.

Another pretended to drink.

A third rubbed water on its face.

All of them stared at Veronica expectantly.

"No."

The fairies frowned.

Not angry.

Disappointed.

Like children whose game wasn't being played correctly.

Veronica took a step away from the stream.

Something struck her shoulder.

Hard.

She gasped.

A stone bounced off the ground.

The fairies immediately looked innocent.

Veronica narrowed her eyes.

"You little bastards."

The fairies pointed at the water again.

One stomped its foot.

Another crossed its arms.

The entire swarm waited.

Veronica looked at the stream.

Then at the stone.

Then back at the stream.

"Fine."

She crouched.

Dipped two fingers into the water.

The effect was immediate.

Pain exploded through her hand.

Veronica screamed.

She stumbled backward.

The fairies leapt into the air.

Cheering.

Laughing.

Applauding.

The skin on her fingers darkened.

Scales spread across her knuckles like a disease racing beneath the surface.

Green.

Shiny.

Reptilian.

"What did you do?"

The fairies laughed harder.

One fell into the stream.

The others pointed at her hand.

Their tiny faces bright with delight.

Veronica ran.

The laughter followed.

She crashed through the undergrowth.

Branches tore at her dress.

Roots caught her ruined shoe.

The fairies swarmed overhead.

The sound of their wings filled the forest.

At first she thought only a few were following.

Then she looked up.

And saw hundreds.

They covered the branches.

The trunks.

The shadows.

Tiny faces peered from every direction.

Watching.

Always watching.

A fairy darted past her ear and bit her neck.

She cried out.

Another pulled her hair.

Another threw an acorn.

Another tugged her purse free and dumped the contents into the mud.

Every attack was small.

Individually harmless.

Together they became unbearable.

Veronica changed direction.

Immediately the attacks intensified.

Bites.

Pinches.

Thrown stones.

Shrieking laughter.

She turned back.

The attacks stopped.

Not entirely.

Just enough.

The realization hit her harder than the stream.

They weren't chasing her.

They were steering her.

Herding her deeper into the Forest.

Veronica stopped.

The attacks resumed instantly.

A hundred tiny voices screamed in her ears.

A dozen fairies pulled her hair.

Another sank its teeth into her wrist.

She lurched forward.

The attacks ceased.

The fairies giggled.

Satisfied.

Tears blurred Veronica's vision.

She wasn't leading anymore.

The fairies were.

And they knew it.

Somewhere ahead a hollow blue tree waited in the shadows.

The fairies became excited again.

Pointing.

Laughing.

Encouraging.

As if they couldn't wait to see what happened next.

The hollow tree stood taller than the others.

Its trunk was enormous.

Wide enough that three people holding hands couldn't have wrapped their arms around it.

A dark opening split the base.

Large enough for Veronica to crawl inside.

The fairies gathered around it.

Hovering.

Laughing.

Pointing.

Waiting.

Veronica stopped several feet away.

"No."

The fairies nodded enthusiastically.

One pointed toward the opening.

Another gave her a thumbs up.

A third doubled over laughing before she had even moved.

Veronica's stomach tightened.

The tiny monsters clearly wanted her to enter.

Which meant she absolutely shouldn't.

She turned away.

The reaction was immediate.

The swarm descended.

Teeth.

Tiny fists.

Hair pulling.

Biting.

Screaming.

The noise became unbearable.

Veronica covered her ears and stumbled backward.

A dozen fairies struck her at once.

One bit her cheek.

Another clawed her neck.

Another yanked a handful of hair free.

The moment she turned back toward the tree, the attacks stopped.

Silence.

The fairies smiled.

Waiting.

Veronica looked at the opening.

Then at the swarm.

Then back at the opening.

"Oh, I hate all of you."

The fairies applauded.

Veronica ducked inside.

The darkness swallowed her.

Immediately the noise faded.

The fairies remained outside.

Watching.

None entered.

That alone terrified her.

The little monsters had shown no hesitation all day.

No fear.

No caution.

Yet they refused to cross the threshold.

Veronica crawled deeper.

The hollow interior opened into a surprisingly large chamber.

Blue wood curved around her like the walls of a cave.

Soft moss covered the floor.

For the first time since waking in the field, she was alone.

No laughter.

No wings.

No tiny hands touching her.

Just silence.

Her entire body trembled.

The adrenaline finally drained away.

She examined her scaled fingers.

The transformation had spread.

Not much.

Just enough.

Green patches now crept across the back of her hand.

The sight made her nauseous.

Outside, faint giggling continued.

The fairies had not left.

They were waiting.

Veronica leaned against the inner wall.

Just for a minute.

Just long enough to think.

Just long enough to rest.

The darkness felt cool.

Comfortable.

Safe.

Her eyes drifted closed.

And before she realized it, she was asleep.

Something tickled her arm.

Veronica frowned.

The sensation continued.

A faint itching.

Then another.

Then another.

Her eyes opened.

For a moment she didn't understand what she was seeing.

Then she screamed.

Mushrooms covered her forearm.

Dozens of them.

Small blue caps pushing directly from her skin.

Some clustered around her wrist.

Others spread up toward her elbow.

Several had burst through the scales on her hand.

Veronica jerked backward and struck the curved wall.

Several mushrooms tore free.

Blood followed.

The pain hit a second later.

Sharp.

Burning.

She clawed at them.

More blood.

More pain.

The remaining growths released clouds of pale blue spores.

The air filled with glittering dust.

Veronica stumbled toward the opening.

Half-blind with panic.

The moment she emerged from the tree, the fairies exploded with laughter.

Hundreds of them.

Maybe thousands.

The sound rolled through the forest like a wave.

They knew.

Of course they knew.

That was the game.

The tree.

The sleep.

The mushrooms.

All of it.

The fairies pointed at her arm.

Some fell from branches laughing.

Others slapped each other on the back.

One landed on a mushroom she had failed to remove and nearly passed out from joy.

Veronica ran.

The laughter followed.

Hours might have passed.

Or minutes.

The forest became an endless maze of blue trunks and moving shadows.

The fairies never left.

Never stopped laughing.

Never stopped watching.

Then she heard a voice.

A human voice.

Weak.

Broken.

"C-c-help..."

Veronica froze.

The fairies became quiet.

Not silent.

Just quieter.

Interested.

Watching.

The voice came again.

"Help..."

Veronica pushed through a curtain of blue vines.

And found him.

A young man lay against the roots of a fallen tree.

His clothing hung in bloody strips.

Mushrooms grew from one side of his face.

Scales covered part of his neck.

One arm bent in a direction arms weren't meant to bend.

His eyes widened when he saw her.

Not with relief.

With horror.

As if seeing her confirmed something.

"No..." he whispered.

The word barely escaped his lips.

Veronica rushed toward him.

"Oh my God."

The fairies gathered above.

Watching.

Waiting.

The young man struggled to breathe.

His gaze fixed on the swarm.

Then shifted to Veronica.

His lips trembled.

One word escaped.

"Simon."

Veronica froze.

The name struck her like ice water.

The Uber driver.

The texts.

The final message.

Welcome.

"Simon?" she asked.

The man's eyes widened further.

"Run."

It was the strongest thing he had said.

Then his body went limp.

Then the fairies began to move.

And for the first time all day, they weren't laughing.

The laughter died.

Not completely.

A few scattered giggles remained.

But the joy was gone.

The fairies drifted downward from the branches.

Hundreds of tiny eyes fixed on the motionless young man

Then on Veronica.

Then back to the man.

The swarm seemed uncertain.

Veronica took a step backward.

Nobody stopped her.

That frightened her more than the attacks.

The fairies had spent all day controlling where she went.

Now they simply watched.

As if waiting for instructions.

The young man's head lolled forward.

A mushroom burst from the corner of his mouth.

Several fairies immediately cheered.

The moment passed.

The strange tension returned.

Veronica swallowed.

"What is Simon?"

No answer.

The fairies never answered questions.

One landed on the motionless body.

Another joined it.

Then another.

Soon dozens covered the body.

Tiny hands tugged.

Pulled.

Examined.

Poked.

Like children dismantling a broken toy.

Veronica backed away again.

The fairies ignored her.

Still occupied.

Still waiting.

Then a sound drifted through the forest.

A whistle.

Soft.

Distant.

Every fairy froze.

The whistle came again.

Three notes.

Simple.

Almost casual.

The reaction was immediate.

Thousands of wings filled the air.

The swarm exploded upward.

The fairies lifted away from him instantly.

They rushed through the trees.

Not panicked.

Excited.

Like children hearing an ice cream truck.

Veronica turned.

The whistle sounded a third time.

Closer.

A chill crawled through her stomach.

"No."

The fairies surged toward her.

Tiny hands grabbed her sleeves.

Her hair.

Her dress.

Not attacking.

Pulling.

Guiding.

Demanding.

"No!"

She fought.

The swarm ignored her protests.

Hundreds became thousands.

The weight of them dragged her forward.

Behind her, another swarm hauled the young man by his torn clothing.

Veronica stumbled.

Fell.

Rose again.

The fairies kept pulling.

The forest itself seemed to move around her.

Blue trunks passed in endless rows.

The light changed.

The air grew colder.

Gradually the laughter returned.

Soft at first.

Then louder.

Then louder still.

The fairies were excited again.

Very excited.

As if they had saved the best part of the game for last.

The trees eventually began to thin.

Sunlight appeared ahead.

Real sunlight.

Golden and bright.

Veronica nearly cried from relief.

An opening.

A way out.

The swarm dragged her toward it.

Then she saw the flowers.

The entire field shimmered gold.

Millions upon millions of blossoms stretched beyond the horizon.

Each flower stood waist-high.

Their petals gleamed like polished metal.

The sight was beautiful.

Wrong.

But beautiful.

The fairies immediately became quiet.

The way churchgoers become quiet.

The way children become quiet near sleeping dogs.

Veronica noticed something else.

The flowers were moving.

Not swaying.

Watching.

The blossoms slowly turned as one.

Following her.

Tracking her progress across the edge of the field.

Her relief vanished.

The fairies dragged her forward.

Toward a weeping willow.

The tree stood alone between the forest and the flowers.

Its branches hung like curtains.

Water dripped constantly from every leaf.

Beneath the willow sat a stump.

Someone occupied it.

Behind her, the fairies dropped the young man among the roots.

Then they stopped.

Not one crossed another step.

The forest ended here.

Whatever waited beyond belonged to something else.

The young man whimpered.

His eyes never left Simon.

Simon sat beneath the weeping willow.

Watching.

Waiting.

Patient.

The willow dripped steadily around him.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The fairies looked toward Simon.

Expectant.

Like children waiting for permission.

Simon didn't acknowledge them.

Instead...

he lifted one finger.

Not toward the fairies.

Toward Veronica.

A simple gesture.

Come.

Veronica looked back.

The forest stretched behind her.

Thousands of tiny blue faces stared from the shadows.

Smiling.

Waiting.

Not one left the trees.

She looked ahead again.

The weeping willow.

The strange man beneath it.

The endless field of golden flowers beyond.

She didn't know which horror frightened her more.

Slowly...

she stepped out of the forest.

The fairies remained behind.

Watching.

The young man tried to crawl.

He managed only inches before collapsing.

Veronica crossed the strip of open ground alone.

Every step felt wrong.

The flowers watched.

The willow wept.

Simon never moved.

When she finally stood beneath the tree, Simon looked at her for a very long time.

Not at the scales creeping across her hand.

Not at the blood caked across her arms.

At her.

As though measuring something invisible.

Finally, he spoke.

"Is it time to play?"

The fairies exploded with delight.

They swarmed the wounded young man.

Tiny hands grabbed his wrists.

His ankles.

His shirt.

He screamed.

Not because they were hurting him.

Because he knew what came next.

The fairies tossed him into the air.

Caught him.

Threw him again.

Laughing.

Cheering.

Playing.

His cries became part of the game.

Simon never looked away from Veronica.

The laughter echoed through the trees.

The willow continued to weep.

The flowers swayed softly in the distance.

At last Simon spoke again.

Quietly.

Almost politely.

"Do you like to share?"