7 Secrets

   Secrets are horrible things. People have to keep them. In the end, they serve little purpose, unless you are throwing a surprise birthday party. The words of the creature haunted Warren, “I’m you.” The raptor yellow eyes invaded his thoughts and distracted him at all hours of the day. He chose not to tell Nerea. 

   The day started at the breakfast table. Fresh coffee dropped steadily into the decanter, Warren stared at it with sleep-deprived eyes. Since the last dream, he developed a fear of falling asleep. The sizzle of the frying pan promised bacon would arrive at the table. 

   “How are you doing this morning, guapito?” Nerea asked. Warren enjoyed her accent, but it did not replace his mother's cheerful whistling as she prepared for the day. On some days, Warren swore the birds would sit by the window to croon along with the music. 

   “I’m still having trouble sleeping,” Warren replied, the half-truth did not lessen the full guilt of lying to the last connection to his mother. 

   Nerea kissed him on the cheek as she served the eggs and bacon. It smelled delicious, too bad his mind was on solving the mystery of the primal presence. The fork screeched against the enamel, while he pushed his food from one end of the plate to the other. 

   “Nerea, you are not my mom,” Warren watched her eyes fill with pain and he instantly regretted his delivery. He put up a hand, “I meant, mom and I had a different relationship. I want us to have our unique things. If that makes sense?”

     Chocolate brown eyes went soft, and a silk-smooth hand touched Warren’s, “She used to brag about you, even when you were in trouble. She always thought about you when we were together. She’d lie naked…,” a sigh of nostalgia, followed by a goofy grin came from Nerea.

    “Whoah, you need to stop right there. You are a parent, as far as I am concerned you don’t have sex,” Warren smirked and tasted the bacon. His mind flipped the switch from sad, to ravenous hunger. 

     Nerea did not go red at his words, her darker skin tone produced a lovely shade of violet, “I meant to say, you were the most important thing to her. She worried coming out to you would ruin your relationship.”

    “I spent a whole month caring for her after dad left. She wore those horrid zebra-striped pants and that ridiculous leopard print shirt that said, wild child. I don’t know how many buckets of fried chicken we went through, or how many bottles of Johnny Walker she drank, but seeing that daredevil grin on her face made me happy.”

    

  “Why did you let her keep those foul clothes?” Nerea asked. She giggled behind her coffee cup.

   The eggs vanished from the plate. Warren's taste buds danced and sang with joy. His mom’s cooking was the best, but the eggs left him wanting more. “You know how your phone lets you keep the emergency calling?”

     “Yes.”

    “I considered those clothes to be her emergency calling feature. Even if everything looked fine on the surface if she put those clothes on, I knew it was time to be there for her,” Warren felt the heat on his face, “Sorry if that was too personal.”

     Silence filled the room, Nerea caressed his cheek, “Let’s see if anyone figured out what happened, si?”

     Warren nodded in excitement and turned toward the T.V. It gave him more time to figure out the foreign presence in his mind. What was it? He ruled out ghosts and demons. Both entities came with missing time. The presence felt old and familiar in the same breath, unfriendly, but fiercely protective.

    “Today on Global News, Bernie Howell has an exclusive interview with a surprise guest who claims they can shed some light on what happened. Put the remote down and stay tuned.”

   “What do think the pulse was?” Warren stole a strip of bacon from Nerea’s plate.

  “What was it like?” Nerea turned and gave Warren her full undivided attention, expectant eyes included. “Your mother sent me a text,” She held up her smartphone and cleared her throat, “Ahem, Warren was hit by an orb, then passed out. I am very worried, pray for us.” The phone hit the table, “Care to explain?”

    “I am fine,” Warren said in a strained tone. The secret yearned to be free and started to burrow its way to the surface of his mind.

    “You can trust me, guapito. I will fight like a lioness to protect you.” Nerea’s silky voice beckoned the secret to her. 

    Warren clung to the secret with every ounce of mental strength he possessed. He opened his mouth and went to speak. Lucky for him, the commercials ended and the news came back on. 

    “I’m Bernie Howell. Today my guest is a genuine Fairy. Not just any fairy, their Queen. Your Majesty welcomes to the show,” Bernie held out his hand. 

     There are beautiful women in the world, all of them couldn’t hold a candle to the winged perfection in the chair. She dressed in the colors of autumn, a vibrant display of yellow, gold, and orange. Her ancient cadence charmed all. “My name is Elphame and I am the queen of the Seelie. Fairy is your name for us,” a slight hint of insult came attached to the last statement.

   Bernie straightened his tie, “Please forgive me, your majesty. I will use the word Seelie regarding your people from now on,” he took a deep breath, “Could you explain what happened?”

   Nerea looked at Warren, “What do you think?”  

  “Shhh, I want to listen,” Nerea pointed to the screen.  

   “After what I saw at that rest stop, this makes sense. This guy has no idea what he is dealing with,” Warren stole another strip of bacon. He had never been so grateful to see the news. He buried the secret deep in his mind once more and hoped it remained there.

   Elphames opalescent eyes regard the news personality a bit of disdain, “What else? Humans happened.”

   Bernie knitted his thick eyebrows in confusion, “Forgive me, I don’t quite follow.”

   “When we left earth all those years ago magic was sealed away using a special book, the book Thoth. A human found the book and proceeded to decode it.” Elphame’s entire posture indicated boredom.

    “The archaeological world would’ve been set on its ear by such a book. Why is this the first time I am hearing of it?” Bernie took a sip of the coffee.

     “You humans and your misguided values. A eugenicist decoded the book in hopes he could remove all the handicapped, and the slow-witted from the world. A single word changed the entire intention of his spell. Avalon and earth have combined into a single realm. In short, magic has returned to earth. As have all the creatures of legend and lore.” 

     

       Bernie asked the question on everyone’s mind, “Do humans have magic?”

      Elphame rose from her chair and gripped Bernie’s double chin with a bejeweled hand, “Are your eyes normally blue?”

       “Yes.”

      “You don’t have magic,” Elphame looked directly into the camera, “If your eyes have changed color, you have been gifted by magic. We are working with your ineffective governments to get ahead of this problem. Remain, calm humans. We ask all children with magic be supervised at all times.”

    Nerea turned off the T.V. She stared at Warren with concern, “Guapito, looks like you and I will be spending a lot of time together for the next little while.”