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Val Jagerman began walking into Witchwood, clasping her girlfriend’s hand tightly. The trees, almost black, she couldn’t tell if they were decaying or already dead, crept closer to her, crawling by moving their roots. They were bowing down to her, hiding the sunlight and the bright fall sky. But this was not an act of worship. This was a threat.
“Uh, babe, are you sure we’re safe out here?” Val asked her girlfriend, Grace Chasity, as she tried not to cower under the sound of the howling wind.
“Nope! The only risk is our carnal desires, and, even though we’re holding hands, we haven’t done anything wrong. We just need to be careful.” That was her Grace, the one who had only started dating her when Val turned 19 last July, and first kissed her on their own 19th birthday, a little over a year before. Other than that, she was fearless.
Val wasn’t so lucky. “Dontcha think we’re being haunted?”
Grace exclaimed, her voice just loud enough to ring out over the sounds of the woods, “Not by ghosts. Or skeletons!”
Val shuddered at the mention of those fuckin’… beings. Yeah, she knew there was one in her body, but she was the one in control of it! If a fuckin’ skele’n were walking around by itself, Val didn’t know what she’d do. Punch it, probably. Hopefully well enough that it wouldn’t see her shaking.
They were things Grace knew she was scared of, even before Val started carrying their books. That much was clear from the prank she pulled in the Waylon Place, the one she admitted was because she was into her. Surprisingly enough, that prank was a comfort. It meant Grace had noticed Val every bit as much as Val had noticed them.
“Even if there were something to be scared of, we have church in an hour. That’ll make everything okay!” Grace turned to look at her, face lit by the sunlight that was filtered by the trees - even though that couldn’t compete with the spark in her eyes - and smiled. They let go of Val’s hand, just for a second, to wrap an arm around her waist as they kept walking. “Val, it’s okay. You’re always safe with me.”
With that truth being spoken, the girls stepped together. As their feet were firmly planted on the deep, spongy grass, they were turned upside down. The world flipped, like the ground was some nerdy fuckin’ portal.
As Val looked out at the Witchwood, now clinging onto her girlfriend beside her, she clocked that it wasn’t normal, even for a spooky-ass forest. The sky, now more similar to the night, was now a burnt shade of orange, each constellation made of complex black voids, which she thought would suck up her and Grace if either of them lifted their feet. The wind between the trees, the trees with intricate patterns of rot and leaves undecided on whether they had burnt or froze, cackled. Mocking her. Mocking Grace.
This forest had to be fucking haunted.
“Babe,” Val began, somehow sensing that she shouldn’t reveal Grace’s name, at any cost, “d’you feel like we’re being watched?”
Grace looked around the forest, the ground, before snapping her gaze to Val’s eyes. “We stepped into a fairy ring.” Well, shit.
The instant the words left her mouth, all these people began to appear, but they didn’t look like the normal residents of Hatchetfield. Every last one of them was so beautiful, a pit appeared in Val’s stomach. Web-like patches formed cracks across their skin, which, no matter the shade, was just too inhumanly grey. Their ears were pointed, as were their teeth, and jagged wings like glass burst from their backs. Val’s instinct was to rip them off, but Grace’s steadiness beside her kept her grounded.
“Well done, my dears!” One of them said. Unlike the others, they wore a crown of thorns - weirdly Jesusy, but okay - and a gown of dusky regal blue. They were to this place whatever Val had once made herself to Hatchetfield High. The only question was what their weaknesses were. “Welcome, welcome to the fae world. What can we do for you?”
They weren’t supposed to talk, right? That was the whole thing with fae, Hatchetfield or otherwise, right?
Grace knew. This, all of this, from the Bible to local folklore, was her area of expertise. Granted, a flash of panic appeared across their face when the fae first spoke, but they recovered quickly. “We can’t ask anything of you! We’re guests, that would be so rude of us. Wouldn’t it, sugar?”
That was a signal. Don’t use real names. Even after a year together, a year and a half if she counted the time she carried Grace’s books, Val was taken aback by how smart Grace was.
“Yeah,” she answered.
The fae ruler’s dark lips curled, revealing a sharp smile. “Surely you would like something to drink. Portals only appear in the depths of our forest. I doubt you would be able to walk back to your town without a drink,” they said, as their eyes flashed that same deep blue.
Dehydrated as Val was feeling, she wasn’t gonna take food or drink from someone who was more powerful than her. She wasn’t a fucking idiot.
Grace was in agreement. “We’re good, thank you.”
“I insist,” the fae said, circling the ring Val wasn’t stupid enough to exit. And she was stupid enough to get a D- in remedial algebra back in high school.
“They said no, dude,” she replied, glaring at them. Like she wasn’t gonna try to stare down a fae, no matter how strong they were. If she and Grace weren’t holding onto each other so tightly, maybe she’d consider throwing a punch, too. Maybe. She still wasn’t planning on letting that fae touch her without some sort of good idea behind it.
The fae gave a slight hum. Maybe it was nothing, but Val knew control. She recognised that signal was what caused the other fae around them to begin chanting. Chanting words Val couldn’t recognise, if they were even words humans could speak. Each syllable made her skin crawl.
She was fuckin’ scared. She didn’t want to look it, knowing how her dad would react if she slipped in any way, but nothing like this had happened to her before. Not even Spankoffski’s ghost and Ruth’s skele’n from senior year were this terrifying.
Looking over at Grace, she caught the slight tremble in her lip, the minor tremor in her eyebrow. But, more than that, there was fascination and curiosity. They had this security that this would work out, even though it was absolutely batshit. One of the many reasons Val loved her.
The ruler’s eyes turned blue again, this time the navy of the night sky Val knew from the human world. “What do you want, girls?”
Val knew what she wanted. Even though she had moved into a place with Brenda and Kyle, she was still stuck in the same town as her dad. She had to be careful of who she came out to, how she presented. Visiting Grace at Michigan State was better, but that was only one weekend every couple of weeks. That wasn’t all of it. This body wasn’t hers. It was hot, parts of it, anyway, and it had worked for pounding nerds and playing football, but it wasn’t her. Because of it, people didn’t see her as who she was, not always. Not yet.
But, trying to follow Grace’s lead, she kept her mouth shut. Her little sister’s fairy dolls probably weren’t the most accurate to the creatures before her, but if Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek 4 taught her anything, it’s that you don’t make rules with fae.
“We would like to be fae, please,” Grace said.
We fucking what, Grace?
They turned to Val, pressing down on her shoulder to reach her ear. “Trust me,” she whispered.
Okay. She could do that.
Val didn’t really know how fae were supposed to emote, but she guessed that the sudden stop to the chanting was a sign of shock. That, and the white cracks in the ruler’s skin shrinking, their eyes reverting to a deep, humanoid brown.
They blinked once. Twice. “You what?” they asked, whispering, their mask of composure slipping. So Grace had that effect on everyone.
“Was I not supposed to give you an honest answer?” For most people, including Val, that question would be asked with a mock innocence. Grace wasn’t acting.
“Never, in a thousand years…” they muttered, staring. They were uncertain. Good.
“If you’re too weak to do it, then that’s cool,” Val said. Whoever this ruler was, she knew them. They were the same as her father, the same as her younger self. The one who needed to control Hatchetfield High to escape. No questioning of power would go unpunished.
“That is not the issue,” they answered. Not a shock to Val. They circled the ring, trying to pick up on their weaknesses. However, they were fine now. They had the upper hand. “Why do you want this?”
Grace smiled. “Fae can’t hurt other fae. At least, everyone says Hatchetfield fae don’t do that. You don’t treat other people the way you treat humans, do you?” Fuck, she was a genius. Instead of letting them get forced into a trap, Grace had found a way to keep them safe from ever being caught again.
“They’re right, aren’t they?” Val echoed, making sure that ruler couldn’t weasel their way out of answering.
“You’re right, yes,” they said. Their eyes flashed once more, with far less malice than before.“I need a name.”
“Esther,” Grace answered, instantly. Neither of them had that name, not even as middle names. As far as Val knew, no one in Hatchetfield was called Esther. She had only heard of it because of the Bible.
“Very good,” they replied, eyes flashing once more. Would that happen to her? It looked dizzying. “Do we have a deal?”
The fae stretched out their hands, their left mutating into a second right hand. Val looked at Grace, who had never been more certain, and took it as a sign to take this opportunity.
Val grabbed onto their hand and gave it a firm shake - that was a point of pride with her. If she was honest with herself, Grace’s ability to match it was one of the reasons she fell in love with them.
Before their hands separated, Val felt the power transfer from the fae ruler to her. Water and glitter and blood and decay travelled through her body, manipulating every atom of her. Even though the process wasn’t yet done, she had already been irreversibly and fully changed from the girl she arrived as.
“Now, if we are done here, you will return to the human world. You should forget this, just for a while. I had to take something from you. Any questions before I see you again?”
“Yeah,” Val asked, beginning to realise how much she wanted to collapse to the ground. Grace had already begun dropping lower and lower. “Why did you agree to this?”
“Today is the equinox. A good day to cause some mischief in the mortal realm,” the ruler answered, swishing their long skirt. “Please, come back soon. We love a good party.”
With that, they snapped their fingers.
Gone.
The fall sun warmed Val’s body, a comforting sensation waking her. Before she opened her eyes, she noticed Grace’s head nestled onto her shoulder. Nice. They must’ve fallen asleep in the forest.
Grace’s eyes snapped open, as she shot up. “Shoot and shinola! Did we sleep together?” They hissed the last two words, slowly shuffling away.
“Pretty sure we’d remember that,” she answered, slowly sitting. Concerned as Grace was about ‘the horrors of pre-marital sex’, she had admitted to wanting to sleep with her, sure. But Val wasn’t going to pressure them into anything, because she actually liked them, and Grace knew that. “I can’t remember anything. We were just walking, right?”
“Right. And now we’re…” Grace trailed off as she turned around, revealing their face to their girlfriend. She was hot, she had always been the hottest person in town, but somehow they had become even more enchanting than before. Glitter swirled around their face; they shimmered. Small dark cracks appeared in her skin, but she didn’t bleed. Tucking hair behind their ear revealed it had become pointed. Both her ears were probably sharp like that. As they opened their mouth to speak, she revealed two rows of sharp, triangular teeth. “You look different.”
“So do you,” she replied. Was it real, or did whatever happened to Grace just make their eyes see things differently?
Grace pulled her phone out of her pocket to look at herself. Despite the initial shock, they seemed more into it than anything. “I guess I do. But, Val, look,” she said, turning their phone’s camera to her.
Like Grace, she had changed, but even more. Her skin had taken on a new sheen, though dark webs began to spread across it. Beyond that, all the parts of herself that she wanted to change, that weren’t really her, were gone, replaced with features that looked more like her sisters’. She was still muscular and broad shouldered, thankfully. Val had worked hard to get those abs.
It was good. It was always a good choice for her to trust Grace.
As she looked back up at her girlfriend, to return their phone, Val noticed where she was looking. She followed their gaze to her chest. First off, awesome. Second, she smirked, noticing how quickly her teeth scratched the inside of her lips. “Hey, Grace. Are you looking at my boobs?”
Their skin became flushed, rotting in the most captivating way Val could envision. “No! …Maybe. They look really good on you! And- I- Val!”
“Yeah, Grace?” she asked. She couldn’t stop smiling, especially when Grace sat closer, draping their arms down her shoulders. Their touch made her glow, even more than usual.
“Is this how you see yourself?”
Val nodded. “Y’know, without the pointy ears,” she added. That said, the badass sharp teeth were gender-affirming care.
Getting on their knees, Grace smiled. She was so close to her, the magic between them intensified. “I can’t believe you got even more beautiful, but through God all things are possible,” they said, the sun overhead acting like a heavenly spotlight. She was so fucking lucky.
They stood up, the motion feeling as light and as effortless as the wind, which followed them as they walked away, carrying leaves behind them.
The next two weeks, Val made deals with the townsfolk as Grace made deals with the other students on their college campus, getting craftier and riskier and they continued. It was fun, playing around with people, seeing them get hurt, watching as her actions made the world change. Even better was hearing Grace’s accounts, how she used it all for justice and what they believed was right. She was so fucking perfect.
One Monday evening, Val was visiting Grace at Michigan State. They had ended up at a frat house together, something Grace never would have wanted to do before, but the dim lights hid their ethereal beauty. Beyond that, there were plenty of opportunities to make some deals.
The two of them stood at the doorway, scoping out the room. Blaring techno bass vibrated Val’s bones, as Grace bounced her knee to the beat.
“You go first. I wanna see how you do it,” Grace said, perfect eyes shining. “Besides, I’ve already taken care of the worst sinners in this fraternity. They all had to go to church yesterday and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ!”
Before she left, Val lifted her hand for a high-five, which Grace returned with great strength and ease. They were incredible.
“What’s up?” Val asked, walking up to a lonely girl who had taken about seven Jell-o shots in a minute. It was weird approaching someone her age without calling them a loser. “How’re you finding tonight?”
“Terrible! It’s my first night out this year, because my girlfriend just dumped me, but we’re roommates!” Wincing at the burn of the alcohol, or maybe the memory of her ex, the girl sighed. Releasing her thick, curly hair from its ponytail, she shook out her dark mane. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be like this. You’re hot. Do you wanna make out?”
Good to know she could still get anyone she wanted. “I have a girlfriend. Do you wanna get back at your ex?”
“Not by hooking up with you?” The stranger tilted her head in surprise, trying to make her watery grey eyes look even more pathetic than they did with the tears already in them.
“Nah,” Val said. A plan formed in her mind from this chick’s words. Her eyes flashed with a deep violet light, reflected in the sheen of the red solo cups around the room. “I can make you forget. The time you first kissed, first time you fucked, her name. Anything you want.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m drinking here. Why else would I want to be at a frat house?” she said, slowly, like Val was some kind of fucking idiot. She was smarter than this stranger thought she was. At least, when it came to this.
“More than that. I can make you forget forever.” Forever. That sounded pretty good.
The girl almost dropped the cup in her hand as her eyes grew wide in shock. “Really? I’ll owe you for life.” Nice.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Val said, taking her memories as their relationship flooded through her. The first time they met, their first kiss, every little thing that this stranger before her loved and hated about her ex-girlfriend, gone. Every part of her that had changed through that relationship, gone. She owned those memories now.
The girl’s face emptied of all anger and self-loathing, replaced with confusion alone. “I’m sorry, why was I talking to you?”
“You owe me 20,” Val lied. Easy.
“Oh, I do? I’m so sorry! Here you go. Thanks for reminding me!”
“Thank you ,” Val said, walking back over to Grace, waving the $20 note with every step.
“20 dollars? I hope you tithe that,” Grace said, hardly trying to conceal the smile on their face. She pulled Val closer by the collar of her shirt, inching up her body with each word. “You did great. And you were really quite sexy…”
Any further flirting was cut off by the touch of her lips, the fire that ignited Val’s body whenever they were so close together. Val put her arms around Grace, holding her tightly, wanting nothing more than to keep breathing in the air from her lungs.
Eventually, as someone walked behind them, through the door, Grace’s eyes glinted with a magical shade of wine red. She would tell you, of course, that it was the same shade as Jesus’ blood. Or communion apple blackcurrant juice.
Val looked in their eyes, flicking her shoulder to the guy who had just walked in. “You wanna do the honours.”
“You know me so well,” she said, giving her one final kiss before they went over.
They talked. Grace had control, of course she did. They didn’t give him anything until they began to receive their payment. Unfortunately, he got angry.
“We had a deal,” they said. Her words rang out across the room, as the boy started touching her, looking to start a fight.
In no world was Grace unable to defend herself. That said, this dude was being an asshole. Val could think of no greater joy than laying out this twerp. “Get your fuckin’ hands off her,” she said, walking over to that douchebag.
“Or what?” he said, the two words slurring together. Val punched him in the back, kneed him in the groin, and pinned his hands behind him.
“Steve, isn’t it?” she asked, knowing how her eyes changed, wishing this guy could see her.
“My name’s Danny.”
“We had a deal, Danny,” Grace said. They pulled back his head by his hair to make sure they were looking him dead in the eyes. Her face became monstrous, mouth widening to accommodate the instant growth of her teeth. Once they were done with this twerp, Val knew they were gonna make out with her so hard. If she wanted.
A deafening shriek escaped her lips, stopping the party, turning off every light, and bringing Danny to the floor. His body went limp, as a translucent orb drifted out his abdomen and into Grace’s mouth. Their muscles stiffened, then relaxed, eyes glowing that same blue as the ruler they had encountered in the forest two weeks before. That was were they went together. That was the cause.
Then, like nothing happened, the party continued, everyone in the house ignoring the corpse on the floor. A smile played on Grace’s lips as she turned to Val. “I have to take the blood out of this body for Alice Woodward. Do you wanna help? We can bury him together,” they said.
Val matched her joy, slinging the guy over her shoulder. She responded in the same way she had a year and a half before, when Grace had asked her to start carrying their books: “Fuck yeah.”