Forever

Chapter One

Human minds are easily fooled, I thought.

It wasn't hard for me to do really, especially when they were asleep. Their unconscious state left them weak and vulnerable, an easy target for someone like me. I didn't think I was a bad person, a troublemaker at the worst. I had created some incredible problems for people in the past, enjoyed stepping into their dreams and giving them my own direction. It was always a fantastic laugh for me, not so much for the poor human who'd let me in without realizing.

I chuckled as I remembered the night when I turned an old man's sweet imaginings of golf into a nightmare which involved his putter becoming a snake that ate him. Just as he began his swing, I conjured a giant serpent, suddenly writhing in his hands. The man screamed like a woman and tried to swear, but was stopped short when he was swallowed whole. He awoke so forcefully I was literally thrown to the ground as I entered my own mind again, his screams of terror echoing in the dark.

On a different occasion, I scared a child awake by creating a terrible monster with long claws, wolf like teeth, and glowing red eyes which peered at him through a window. I'd watched from the shadows as the boy played in the sandbox. Ever so slowly, the window gradually appeared just outside the area. The boy, as curious as I'd pegged him, jumped up and ran to inspect the window only to find my creation waiting on the other side of the glass. Shock registered on his face and when the beast let out a terrible roar he screamed. I felt a certain amount of pride over that moment—no one knew how to produce a terrifying growl like I did.

My favorite time to hand out terrors usually coincided with the release of a new horror movie. Poor blonde girls; they always died in the movie, and I was there to help hammer that into their subconscious minds—over and over again with relish.

I mused over the many times I had been . . . uh . . . encouraged to leave the humans alone. I didn't ever get in trouble for anything—exactly—except for a few choice incidents, which also happened to be some of my favorite memories.

My mother, who held a certain amount of sway in things, didn't approve of my shenanigans. She thought they were cruel, as did most of the other Fae. Her opinion only mattered when I still lived with her though, and that was a long, long time ago. When I got caught messing in the minds of those I shouldn't, she would make me do various things as penance. Smaller incidents were punished with a stern talk, larger ones with house arrest. It wasn't too much of an issue then, since seeking out my choice of entertainment hadn't been much of a priority. But as soon as I was on my own, it was all I wanted to do. As a result, I didn't visit very often—or at all.

It wasn't my fault though. As crazy as it seemed, there really wasn't much to do in and around Fae. Time had a way of changing things. I didn't even know how old I was any more. I'd stopped counting somewhere after three hundred because it didn't seem to matter much after that. All the Fae ever wanted to do was romance each other. Ew. That was not for me. Sure I liked girls, but the last thing I needed was another woman to nag me. If they weren't romancing each other, or secretly romancing humans, then they were growing some type of plant. I understand greens are great and all, but really? I seriously worried the vegetation might begin to take us over at some point. There's only so much that can be done with foliage.

Thus, the mortal fantasies became my escape–my salvation from boredom. I tried to come up with something new each night, but being an immortal—having an unlimited amount of nights—was starting to leave me with no fresh ideas whatsoever. I'd been doing this for too long.

Boring . . . Over dreamt . . . Really? Puppies? Socks? That's what you're dreaming about? You have no imagination! I snorted as I stood on the edge of the forest, shuffling through the minds of humans sleeping peacefully before me.