• November 12, Thursday, Happy Valley, Oregon
    Tomorrow is Kor’s first day at school. A real school. Kor forget Kor am no longer at the asylum. Kor’s home has been there for so long. Kor miss all, especially Sar, Mar, Ash and Eme. If doctors are not satisfied with Kor’s actions with the people on the outside, though, Kor will go back. Kor have not seen any new Faey here yet; Kor assume though Kor will become acquainted with them shortly. There are so many shadows here; there are bound to be lots of Faey.
    Kor - Shadow Seer - Faey Master


    “Students, we have a new student, Kora. You all be nice to her now,” the plump teacher said after quickly looking through the file Kor gave her.
    Kor was a girl of fairly average height,. She was about five foot six. Her hair was a deep brown, which shone red in direct light. It was cut short, in a spiky fashion. Her skin was fair but not necessarily pale. She was very slender and had very angular features, nose, ears, ect. Her eyes almost looked brown or even black, but if you looked closely you would find that they were just a bit redder than her hair. She looked somewhere around her real age of 15, but then again, she had looked like that for a while.
    Kor was led to a seat near the front of the classroom, and class began. It was some sort of math class. Kor understood that, but it was still unfamiliar to her. Yes, there were numbers and symbols. Those where all familiar to her, but also there where shapes. That Kor didn’t understand. How do shapes fit with equations? Why are there even shapes to begin with? she thought/ Shapes do not have anything to do with math.
    Finally the period ended. Everyone started to leave. Kor didn't know why though. Most the students just snickered at her sitting there. One girl summed up the courage and dragged her out the room.
    The girl was about eight inches taller than Kor. She had natural black hair that met her slim shoulders. Her skin was a reddish brown and looked very exotic on her long skinny arms and legs. Her eyes were a shinny black , so black that it was impossible to tell her irises from her pupils with the naked eye.
    "Kora, did your old school not have different periods?" the girl asked
    "Kor's name is Kor." Kor responded. She hadn't gone by that name since a few hours after she got to the insane asylum, more than eight years ago.
    "Well, Kor, then, same question," the girl said walking down the hall.
    "Kor does not understand, same classroom." Kor said following her. " Does that mean there are more than one?"
    The girl shook her head. "Where have you been?" she laughed.
    "Kor has lived at the asylum for many years."
    "Oh..." the girl walked over to a locker and opened it quickly. "You can keep your stuff in here if you want. My locker partner just moved," the girl explained. Kor handed the girl her bag silently, and the girl quickly went on. "What class do you have next?"
    "Kor has next the class of chemistry," Kor answered.
    "So do I!" the girl exclaimed getting out her binder. "I'll loan you what you need for today. Come on!" The girl said dragging Kor with new vigor.
    "Where is girl taking Kor?"
    "To your class. If you don't mind me asking, why do you talk like that any way?"
    "Why Kor talk how?"
    "Like that," the girl dragged Kor through a door, "in third person and all eighteenth century like."
    "Kor talk like Faey. Faey taught Kor how to talk." Kor explained.
    "Ok... whatever," the girl led Kor to the front of the room. "Hey, Dad!" she said to the teacher. "This is the new student, Kor." She shoved Kor towards him.
    "Well, hello there, Kor."
    "Kor is much pleasured by your acquaintance," Kor responded to his greeting.
    The teacher turned to the girl. "Lissa, why is she talking like that?"
    "I have no idea, she said something about Faey when I asked her. It's so weird."
    He turned back to Kor. "Well Kor, Lissa will find you a seat and get you caught up on what we've been working on."
    "Ok, so, Kor, this is where we sit." Lissa said leading her to a table near the back of the classroom. "Right now we've been doing some organic chem., where we work with chemicals from plants." Lissa walked over to the counter to get some beakers. "So, here we have some water..." Though Lissa kept talking. Kor no longer heard her. Organic chemistry was simple, not like that shape math geometry from earlier.
    The rest of the day seemed to zoom by all too quickly for Kor. She was used to her routine. In the last eight years, it had varied very little. Drained she was. "Kor is even too tired to see Faey," she whispered before collapsing onto the bed her foster mom provided her. Tired. she thought as the world faded away.


    - - -

    "Kor! Kor! Come play with us Kor!" a chorus of voices chanted. High and low they sounded, all notes and pitches. A vile sounding symphony it was, but to Kor it was comforting. Nothing was more familiar to Kor than the sounds of dozens of faeries begging to play with her.
    Kor was surrounded by trees. The clearing she was occupying was small, only as wide as her seven year old body was tall A perfect circle it was, a wonder of mature. She sat in the middle, giggling holding out her hands to invisible creatures. "Of course Kor will play with Faey." she laughed, now rolling around playfully.
    Kor saw a different scene. To her, her playmates where not imaginary. In her eyes, she was surrounded by tens of faeries. They came in all shapes and sizes and shades. Some looked like humans, and others greatly resembled animals. Some looked like simple shapes, while others where constantly shape shifting. Most though were a dark gray, semi-transparent blobs. Shadows they were called, and shadows they were.
    Seeing this girl playing by herself confounded some passing hikers. They couldn't just leave her there, so they figured they must rescue her from this treacherous place. Walking slowly up to her they asked . "What is your name, girl?"
    The girl looked up, confused and scared, like she had never seen a human before, much less heard one's voice. "Kora's name is Kora," she said.
    "Kora, what are you doing out here? Are you lost?" the young women asked, kneeling down next to the little girl.
    "This is the home of Kora." Kor said watching the three adults suspiciously.
    The young women picked Kor up and started walking away from the clearing. "Well, I'm going to take Kora to a better home."

    - - -


    "Girls get up! It's time to her ready for school!" Kor's foster mom called up the stairs. Kor heard groans following this but still failed to understand why. All she had to do before she left was to eat. She had gotten dressed over an hour ago. She had woken shortly before dawn, just like she always had.
    The slow movements of the ones around her were strange to her. The people on the outside moved differently. They started out several hours behind. As the day progressed, they seemed to pass her, getting faster and faster, while she remained at the same even pace. The world seemed to move without Kor, at times so slow as if standing still and others no more than a blur.
    Kor felt separated from those around her. After a few days even friendly Lissa stopped talking to her. As far back as Kor could remember - that day she was found in the forest - she had always had someone. Now she was alone, and even the faery were too far away for her to reach. She was alone. Surely, truly alone.

    Kor and her two doctors where sitting together in a small room. "So, Kor, have you been taking your medicine?" the older looking doctor asked.
    "Kor has always taken Kor's medicine."
    "Good. We'll be giving you a new medicine today. It should work better than before."
    "Kor understands."
    "Good," the other said. "Now tell me, have you been having any delusions lately?"

    November 21, Saturday, Happy Valley, Oregon
    Kor is very lonely. Faey not talking to Kor. This morning doctors from asylum came and saw Kor. Doctors seemed glad Kor has seen no Faey. He said medicine is doing medicine's job. Kor has never told doctors, but medicine never worked before. Why is different now? Kor got new medicine, though, so Kor hopes this will change. Kor miss Sar and Mar and Ash and Eme. They understand Kor; they don't laugh at Kor. Everyone at Kor's new home and school laughs at Kor. No one likes Kor, and Kor likes no one. Kor wishes Kor where back at the asylum. There Kor saw Faey, and Kor had friends. Kor now has nothing. Kor has less than even before the asylum, when all Kor has was Faey.
    Kor - Shadow Seer - Faey Master


    - - -

    "So, Kor what's your problem?" The two small, battered bodies called out to Kor.
    "Why girls call Kora Kor?"
    "Kora's too long. You have to have a name with only three letters," they chanted.
    "Kora does not understand."
    "You don't have to understand. You just have to live with it."
    Kor nods and sits down next to the twins, Mar and Sar.
    "Kor, you never answered our question." The girl closest to her, Sar, said
    "So why are you here?" the other finished.
    "Kor is here because woman promised to give Kor better home."
    The two look at her strangely, "this in an insane asylum."
    "You wouldn't be here if there wasn't something wrong with you." Mar pointed out.
    "So, what's your problem?" Sar asked again.
    "Kor does not understand."
    "We're sadists and masochists," they both explained.
    "Kor does not understand 'sadist, masochist' "
    They smile wickedly, "We like to feel and give pain."
    "Kor does not see why that is wrong. Many Faey like pain. Especially Shadows. Shadows love pain."
    "Who are these 'Faey'?" the further twin asked.
    "The Faey are what Kor call her friends. More people call the Faey faeries, but the Faey don't like that. The shadows will kill you if you call them that. They kill you slowly, and you won't realize them plaguing you. It is sager not to mention the Faey at all."
    The twins look at each other. "She really is insane," they mutter, "definitely delusional." They paused.
    "Possibly paranoid," Sar said.
    "Perhaps. Or maybe multiple personalities."
    "Yes, and that offers so many other possibilities too."

    - - -

    "Kor!" the plump, mousey teacher yelled at her.
    Kor shook her head lazily, unwillingly shaking off the memory. She looked up at the teacher and blinked. "Yes?"
    All her classmates laughed, especially Lissa. To them she was naught but a joke.
    Kor then seemed to realize them laughing at her. Until now she did her best to ignore it, but she could not take this harassment any longer. She growled at them, a long, vicious snarl. No longer could she stand the shame of being only a joke, She had snapped. No matter how flexible a stick, it will always snap.
    "Kor be quiet!" the teacher yelled at her again. "And the same goes for the rest of you!" Then she turned back to Kor and spoke to her again, this time quieter. "Kor I don't want you day dreaming in class anymore. I definitely don't want you acting like a wild animal in my class either."
    "Kor did nothing wrong. Kor tired of having people laugh at Kor because Kor no like them. Kor miss friends at asylum, friends that understood Kor and Kor understood. Kor miss Kor's home at asylum, Kor's room. Kor no like life on outside. Kor want back! Let Kor go back!" Kor pleaded.
    "I can't control that," she squeaked. "You will pay attention in class. You will do your work. You will act like a human being and not some beast. If you fail to do this, you will no longer be welcome in my class."
    "Kor no want class." Kor argued. "Kor want home." Shadows, Faey, please come back to Kor. Kor needs you. "Kor want home," she sobbed.
    A strange breeze swept through the classroom, though no windows were open. It carried many voices of even more varieties.

    "Infinite shades to black and gray,
    Oh, we will come out to play
    With those who see us,
    Hear us, smell us.
    Taste and feel us.
    With those who fear us,
    We will come and play."

    A few people then screamed, one even fainted. Kor was screeching in delight. The teacher gasped, scurried over to her desk and tried to pick up the scattered papers. One girl cried as some invisible force ripped her shirt, as did another when the wind blew up her skirt.
    "What the Hell?" one boy yelled when his pants were suddenly around his ankles.
    People scrambled to find their binders which seemed to ride the wind through out the room. The lights flickered out and the chaos multiplied. Bodies pushed and shoved for the door, tripping over tables and getting stomped on. People scrambled in terror as blood dripped down their shirts and into their eyes.
    Screeches of frustration filled the air when it was discovered that the doors where locked, and some of the human traffic reversed. Towards the windows they rushed, forgetting for a moment that they where on the fourth floor. The glass shattered, followed by a scream, a thud, then silence.
    Some one looked out the broken window, towards the ground bellow. Quickly spilt blood was being washed away by the ever present rain. Thunder cracked, with no sign of lightening, and the boy fell.
    People started to understand. There was no way out, except for death. The bodies remaining upright, then crumbled in defeat. All except for one. Kor was ecstatic. Giggling like a little girl with her favorite toy she rolled around on the blood stained floor. Her arms were outstretched as if she were caressing some unseen creature.
    Again the voices sounded. "Kor, Kor! Come play with us, Kor!"
    All eyes turned towards the dancing figure.
    Was this the timid and confused girl that just moments ago they were all laughing at?
    Kor was still laughing and dancing. Covered in blood, she pointed at dead, trampled corpses and disembodied limbs. Never before had Kor been so happy. The Faey were back.

    The door was closed. Everyone had arrived.
    "Let's start this out quick and to the point. We can't keep Kor at the school anymore."
    "Why not?" the elder of Kor's doctors asked.
    "An entire class of students died at her hands Not even the teacher survived! The floor and walls were covered in blood. Corpses covered the ground, or parts of them did. Students jumped out a four story window trying to escape! Afterwards, Kor came out of the room, giggling, covered in blood, and the room burst into flames! Keeping that in our midst hardly seems safe."
    "Hmm... That's very unlike Kor," the younger of Kor's doctors stated. "I've been monitoring her for eight years now. She's never shone a fondness of blood, nor fire, infact, she has almost shown an aversion to them. The only real thing wrong with her is her vivid delusions. Unlike most people like her, though, she cannot only see and hear these illusions. She feels them too and even possibly tastes or smells them. She has a firm belief in these delusions of hers no matter what we've done to discontinue these behaviors."
    "This isn't a sign of an likeness for blood nor fire! Its a show of great violence!" the teacher retorted.
    "She is fairly neutral when it comes to violence. She has no fondness for it, yet is by no means a pacifist."
    "Well, then she's changed."
    "Just a few days ago, she expressed to us her disgust for violence."
    The principal of the school finally made herself known. '"I have been getting complaints on her participation in class and how she acts with other students. All that we can handle, but now this has gone too far. I will not let her continue causing disruption in my school any longer. Her expulsion papers have already been made."
    It was Kor's foster mom to speak next. "If she is expelled we have no choice but to send her back to the asylum. The terms were that we would have her until the point where her delusions got worse, or when her people or surroundings begin to cause her harm. If being here has harmed her so much as to drive her to such extremes then the terms of our agreement have surely been met.
    So far there was one doctor had not spoke. She was a general psychiatric doctor for the group of girls Kor lived with at the asylum. "All right, we will take her back." Everyone started at her. This revelation was unexpected. She could see the surprise in their faces, so she began to explain. "I watch over the general mental well being of the girls in Kor's wing. Those who spent little or no time with Kor have not been affected with her absence. On the other hand, Kor's friends have changed drastically during this short time and not for the better. I believe Kor has kept them in line over the last eight years. It is my theory that if we return Kor, they will all improve at incredible speeds."
    "It's settled then," the principal injected before this conversation took another turn. "I say this meeting is finished. Kor has the rest of the weekend to pack before she goes back to the asylum." She stood up. "Now if you don't mind I have business elsewhere." she said and everyone filed out.
    Kor's two doctors stayed behind for a moment.
    "We can't let Kor back at the asylum," said the elder, the one who now monitored her physical and mental health as a whole and prescribed medicines.
    "I know," said the other, "but we have no other choice."

    November 28, Saturday, Happy Valley, Oregon
    Kor going back to the asylum! Kor going home! Kor so excited, Kor cannot wait. Kor glad to see all Kor's friends again. Kor has known all of them for many years. Kor very happy. Faey come back, they Kor go back home. There is something different about the Faey, though. They seem more there. Almost like Kor was not the only one to see them.
    Kor - Shadow Seer - Faey Master

    "Kor, Kor! You're back! You're back!" the twins Sar and Mar chanted. Seeing them, Kor was worried. Their skin was raw and pink, covered in more scars then she remembered.
    Eme was the next one to greet her. "Welcome back babe," she said. Again, Kor was worried by the state of her friend. Kor easily recognized the scent of stolen drugs and just as easily noticed Eme's unstableness.
    At the end of the little procession was Ash. She scared Kor most of all. She was skinnier than when she first came to the asylum and was in such a poor condition that she could not walk. "Missed you," she said sadly, looking up from her wheel-chair.
    Tears framed Kor's deep burgundy eyes. "What did happen to all of Kor's friends?" These weren't her friends, not to her eyes. They where to different. Why did Kor's friends leave Kor? she thought.
    After so many years of life being so constant, time was catching up. Everything raced to catch up, and nothing remained the same. Kor couldn't take it. She ran. She paid no attention to where she was going but quickly found herself in her old room.
    She then did something that in her memory she had never done before. She cried. Her face was soaked with salty tears; it soaked her spiky hair and tight black shirt. Alone. she thought. Always has Kor been alone.


    - - -

    "There are no such things as faeries, Kor."
    Kor screamed. "No! Don't say that word! Faey will kill you! The Shadows will kill you!" she trembled, fearing the wrath of these 'Faeries.'
    "Kor, nothing will happen to me if I call them Faeries. Do you know why, Kor? Because there is no such thing as Faeries, Kor. No such thing.'
    By now Kor was mumbling hysterically "No! Call Faey Faey! Faey like the tittle Faey! Faey won't do anything to you if you call Faey Faey. Faey no like being called Faeries. Call Faey Faey. Kor no want to make the Faey mad. Faey will leave Kor is Faey get mad. Please don't anger Faey."
    The doctor, who then did little but watch, now stepped in. "That's enough, Kor. I think that is enough for this session. You can leave. Be back at the same time tomorrow."
    The doctor and his assistant turned and faced each other. The younger one spoke first, "Do you think she would work?"
    The other smiled. "In time, of course."

    - - -

    The four girls hammered on the door.
    "Come on, babe, you don't have to hide."
    "Don't run, don't run!"
    "Kor, there's no reason to be scared of us."
    They tried to coax her out of the room. Nothing was working.
    On the other side of the door, Kor was having a melt down, sobbing, shaking, crying, yelling. Constantly she was babbling nonsense not even the Faey could unriddle.
    For a long while this continued, an hour at the least. Finally, most of the girls gave up and slumped to the floor outside the room. Only Ash pushed on. "Kor, what's wrong? Please, Kor. None of us can stand to see you like this. We missed you, Kor. It was so hard for us here without you. We need you. Without you, Kor, I doubt we would stay here much longer." Ash now too was crying. 'Kor please don't leave us alone like this-"
    Ash know nothing of alone!" Kor yelled. "Ash had family before here, Ash had friends. Eme did too, even Sar and Mar. Kor had nothing. Kor thought Kor have friends. Kor just have people who laugh at Kor, who do not care for Kor, who do not understand Kor. And Faey. Kor have Faey, Kor no need you! Kor need only Faey!"
    Suddenly the door banged open, blown by a strange wing. Kor stood in the doorway, shirt rippling, skirt flowing, ever her short hair was blown forward. The wind carried a menacing laughter.

    The wind swept through the entire building. Two of the doctors were sitting along in a dark room from which the heard the onslaught approach.
    "Goddamn it!" the younger looked up. "We're too late."
    The other nodded sadly, "Now our only choice is to run and not get caught."
    "It's going to be harder to escape Faey than the others."
    "True. Definitely harder than the shapeshifters, witches, and zombies.
    Perhaps even more so than the vampires."
    "Really? I doubt it. Other than the elves and the dark angels the vampires were the strongest."
    The talked as they frantically picked up all they could easily carry as the ran out the door. Their luggage included 4 guns, 2 swords, a bow partnered with a quiver full of arrows. Also, invisible but still present was there vast arsenal of spells within their power.
    "Either way Boss is bound to be proud. Very proud. Not even the banshees caused this much commotion and fear."
    "True, too true."
    Quickly they flee the building. All around them there was blood and broken bodies, flames and collapsing walls.
    They met little trouble, In fact, they were practically untouched until they reached the far gate of the property.
    "Wait," they turned around as the voice called out to them. The saw a young girl covered in blood, meat and ashes. Kor. She seemed happy, though, happier than they had ever seen her before. Again she spoke is a strange unearthly tone. "Faey tell Kor that you Demons. Faey say Demons like Kor. Kor can see Demons now. Demons' skin is like blood. Kor like Demons' skin. Faey say Kor Demon too. Kor want to come with Demons. Kor will be happy with Demons Kor thinks. Faey say Demons are very fun. Kor come with Demons?"
    They smile wickedly at this unexpected turn. "If that is what you like."
    The three of them disappeared from the burning forest them, to find another place to create chaos, to find more wicked creatures to summon from peoples thoughts.