Disclaimer (whew, I almost forgot to put this up!) I don't own anything. The wonderful, wonderful Holly Black does! I would never steal anything from her, even though I worship Ravus and Roiben. XD And I want that Never... (so I can be a Never-whore! lol) But I don't own it, which makes me sad. C'est la vie.
Uhm… welcome to my first Tithe fic. If you like this, thank Giedre. She's the one who convinced me to post this. And if you don't like this and think it's the worst thing you've ever read, you can blame her too. (XD just kidding) And thanks to Lauren for praise even though she snatched it away during English class. XD I dedicate this chapter to both of them.
Just so you know, Val might be OOC (or Kaye for that matter) and some details from Valiant may be missing/off. My friend Lu has my book (or at least I think so… it's kind of been a musical book thing with Valiant. It went to Li's little sister to somebody –I dunno who- to Lu. I think.). So please don't yell at me unless you have suggestions on how to make it better.
Chips ahoy! (sorry, private joke between my friend Li and I from when we went to Amherst, where Holly Black lives and my brother goes to college.)
This is so boring, Valerie Russell thought, leaning her head against the window of the car. Stupid school field trips.
There was one weird thing about it, though; they were going, for some reason, to the same part of New Jersey as the entrance of the Unseelie Court. She wasn't quite sure why they were going (she had been daydreaming about Ravus while they were talking about it), and she really wasn't sure if it was a good place to go or not.
Based on her limited experience with faeries of the Unseelie Court, she was guessing not.
"Val, come play 20 Questions with me," Ruth whined. Val rolled her eyes.
"This is the fifth time you've asked. Are you trying to wear me down or something?"
"Is it working?"
Val had to laugh. "Alright, I'll play 20 Questions with you. Electronic version?"
"Of course. I say we use the word 'faerie.'" Ruth smirked wickedly. "First question they should ask: is it the species of being that Val kicked ass in fighting them?"
"Shh!" Val hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard. No one appeared to have eavesdropped, as they were all listening to their music and chatting loudly with each other. "Somebody might here you."
"Gee, sorry, Your Majesty," Ruth said mildly sarcastically.
Whatever Val might have said was cut off by screams from the rest of the bus and an unpleasant feeling of the world lurching beneath her, accompanied by a grinding sound. Ruth's voice joined the terrified chorus while the bus flipped over. When the bus finally stopped moving, Val straightened up from shielding her head to look around.
While the bus hadn't caught fire, it seemed that nobody was moving. Scratch that, she thought. People were moving, but nobody seemed to be in any condition to get help. Even Ruth, next to her, was holding her head and moaning. Val seemed to be the only unharmed one. Mostly, anyway, as she could feel blood slowly trickling down her forehead and cheek, and when she put her hand to feel it, the hand came off stained red.
Crap. What do I do now?
Val made her way on the uneven surface of the ceiling of the bus (that was now the floor), stepping over the unconscious bodies of her classmates and teachers. Opening the door was a struggle, but she managed in the end.
There were buildings in the distance, and as Val ran closer to them, she saw that the nearest one was a gas station. As she slowed to a fast walk, people stared. Val supposed she looked rather a mess with blood dripping from a gash in her forehead and oozing out of a cut on her check.
Val burst into the gas station shop; the clerk behind the counter turned to look at her. His eyes opened wide.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"Can I use your phone?" Val asked, ignoring his question.
"We're not supposed to let anyone use our phones."
"Look, the bus I was in just flipped and rolled over and there are people in there possibly dying. I don't have a cell phone or money for a pay phone. I'm going to call, goddammit, whether or not you like it."
The guy looked at her with wide eyes again, and nodded. "Come into the back room."
Val followed him, ignoring the odd looks she got from the customers. Because of the New York fiasco, she was used to staring. He led her to a phone in the corner of the room. Dialing 9-1-1 as she put the phone to her ear, she listened for the voice asking, "What's the emergency?"
When she made contact, she explained the situation as calmly as she could to the emergency person on the other end of the line. It soon amounted to frustration.
"I don't know where exactly! I'm not from around here; I don't know what anything's named! Can't you just track my call and go half a mile east? My friend is in there, so are all my classmates and teachers!"
While she got frustrated, she didn't get hysterical as one might in those circumstances. She had reacted calmly when she had found about Tom and her mom, albeit a bit irrationally. She wasn't about to freak out now, not when she hadn't when Mabry had stolen Ravus' heart (literally). After five minutes, the person on the other side of the line reported that rescue vehicles had reached the bus. As Val hung up, the door opened and an Asian girl with blonde hair walked in.
"Hey, Corny, your shift's over. The guy outside told me to tell you."
"OK, thanks," Corny said. He turned to Val. "You'd better go; you're not supposed to be in here. Neither are you, Kaye. Shouldn't you be at school, anyway?"
"I needed a day off." Kaye looked past Corny to Val, and her eyes widened slightly. "You," she whispered.
"Me," Val said mockingly, turning to go out the door. "Thanks a lot, Corny, was it?"
"Not so fast," Kaye said, flitting forward and grabbing hold of Val's arm. "Come with me. Your face needs cleaning up. What happened to you, anyway?"
"Long story," Val said, eyeing the girl suspiciously. What if she was one of them? How did she know who Val was? The girl began pulling Val towards the door. Val relented after a few steps. Once they got to what was apparently Corny's car, Val pulled away.
"I have to get to the hospital," she told the two. "Which way?"
The girl looked surprised. "Is your head that bad?"
"Not for me. My classmates, a few teachers, and my best friend are there. I hope."
"She was in a bus crash," Corny supplied. Kaye's expression flickered for a second, then reverted to concerned.
"Come on, we're going to my house."
"I need to get to the hospital," Val insisted. Kaye rolled her eyes.
"We're only going to my house to clean you up. Then you can go to the hospital."
"Well, if you two are set, I'll be taking off now," Corny said, getting into his car.
"Bye, Corny," Kaye said as he sped off. Then she turned to Val. "Are you coming? I don't bite."
Val had nowhere to go but after her. She was in a strange town all alone without a cell phone or even any money.
They walked a ways towards the inner city. Finally, they reached a nice house. Kaye opened the door and motioned for Val to step in. Val did, and Kaye stepped in behind her and closed the door behind them. Kaye led the way upstairs to what was apparently her room. It was very messy and Val had to wade through clothes to sit on the mattress. Kaye sat on a comforter across from her.
"You shouldn't be here," Kaye said.
"You invited me!"
"No, I mean you shouldn't be this close to them."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. They're wanting revenge on you for messing up the court and killing her."
"What? Oh," Val said, a shiver running down her back, an image of roughly thrusting a sword in Mabry's neck running through her head. "It wasn't my choice to come here. It was a school field trip. I had to. I didn't want to come."
"Well, you have to go home." The words were clear and precise, and Val could tell she meant business.
"Not until I see Ruth. How do you know, anyway?"
Kaye smirked. "That's for me to know."
Val eyed her warily. "You're one of them, aren't you? A faerie?"
Kaye started to say something, but the door opened and who Val supposed was Kaye's mom stood in the doorway.
"Who's this, Kaye – what happened?"
Val licked her dry lips. "I was in a bus accident. Everyone else is at the hospital. Kaye was giving me a place to calm down."
Ellen shook her head. "I swear, you bring home the weirdest friends, Kaye. First that Robin guy and now her."
"Hey, I'm still here!" Val said indignantly. Ellen shrugged.
"I tell it like it is. Stay as long as you like, hon. We're not going anywhere. In fact, why don't we clean up those cuts? They look pretty nasty." She left the room and came back with a first-aid kit, which she thrust at Kaye. "You do it; I've got to call some people."
Kaye rolled her eyes but took the box. She waited until Ellen was out of the room before opening it and bringing out some Bactine stuff. While she was busy with the gash on Val's forehead, Val was still trying to process everything that had gone on during the last hour or two. Finally the Robin comment registered.
"Did she say, 'Roiben'?" Val asked. Please tell me I got it wrong…
"She said Robin," Kaye said, moving to the cheek. "She has no idea that Roiben exists Roiben. To her, he is only a weird human mortal."
"But you've had Roiben, King of the Unseelie Court, here. In your room."
"Possibly. Look, go home. I can guarantee a safe journey home, but I can't do anything if you stay here."
"The only reason I'd go home is my sword," Val said, "and I saved Ravus' life with a metal pipe once. I can defend myself, and I'm going to see Ruth."
"Against things you can see, maybe, but not against those you can't."
"Oh well. Ruth is in that hospital and I'm going to stay here until she gets better. Screw Roiben and his minions."
Kaye's eyes grew dark. "Say that again."
"Screw Roiben and his minions."
A voice from the doorway startled them. "Kaye?"
Kaye's head snapped to the side so fast that Val thought she would get whiplash. "Roiben! What are you doing here? I thought we agreed only at night!"
Val's first instinct from experience was to back away or run, but she stuck her ground as Roiben glanced at her.
"She was in a bus crash caused by those under your rule," Kaye explained. "Nobody's happy with her."
"Can somebody please tell me what's going on here or where the hospital is?" Val burst out. "I'm really confused and I want to see Ruth."
Roiben took a good look at her and narrowed his eyes. "You killed my poisoner."
"It was a fair fight," Val defended. "You made the deal between us. She was going to kill you, anyway. You should be thanking me if anything."
"Should I?" Roiben said amusedly. "May I remind you that she would have killed you had I not stepped in."
"Yeah, you were going to let me die in combat I wasn't trained for instead! And all for your sport and pleasure, too! It was decency that drove me to save you, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you. Besides, are you admitting that you saved a human mortal? I thought faeries hated any positive interactions with humans."
Val had no idea where the defiance was coming from – there was no Ravus to save – but hey, she thought, if it works, use it. She got up from the bed. "Thanks for cleaning me up, Kaye, even if I still don't know exactly who you are. And Roiben-" She shook her head. "I don't have anything to say to you."
Val walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door, leaving Ellen to say from the kitchen, "Leaving already?"
Val wandered around town for a while, glad to get away from Roiben. She was still slightly hostile against him for his attitude when Ravus was dying. At last she found the hospital. She walked in and looked around warily. She didn't like hospitals much, although she was thankful for the one that had treated Dave.
"Can I help you?" a bored voice said. Val realized with a jolt that she had wandered to right in front of the front desk.
"Um… in the big bus crash that was today, did a girl named Ruth with head injuries come in?" she asked.
"I'm not permitted to give out that information to anyone besides family," the woman said. Val rolled her eyes.
"I was in the damn bus when it rolled over, and Ruth's my best friend. I was the one who called for help. I think I deserve to see my best friend."
"I wish I could help you," the woman said. "However, if you're not a family member, I can't give you the requested information."
"Then say I'm her sister for God's sake!" Val exclaimed, causing many people to look their way. She quieted her voice and took a deep breath. "Please, I'm begging you. My name's Valerie Russell. You can have that for your records in case somebody has a problem with letting me visit her. Just tell me where she is. I won't make trouble."
"Well…" the woman said slowly. "This may cost me my job, but I'll write you down as her sister." She continued on to tell Val where Ruth was and when visiting hours ended (which was in an hour).
Val nodded her thanks and made her way up to where the woman said Ruth's room was. Just as she was about to open the door, someone called her name.
"Val!"
She looked around. It wasn't Ravus' voice, but it was familiar. It was a male voice, and as she turned to her left, she saw who it belonged to. Val blinked in surprise. What is he doing here?
So there you go. Small cliffie, I'm sorry. I'm the Queen of Cliffies. Somebody just complained that I ended my Harry Potter fic, Coming Home, with a cliffie. Which I totally did not. –huffs-
Oh, and a little warning. I may or may not finish or even update this fic. I'm working on the next chapter, yes, but there is no telling how far it will get before I get bored or have a new or better idea.
OH! And here's a book recommendation for you all: Vampire Kisses and Kissing Coffins by Ellen Schreiber. I emailed her and she actually EMAILED BACK! Isn't that the most awesome thing? Anyways… chips ahoy and review! No flames, please!
-Kinz