Courting Trouble (Chapter 1) (Patreon)

As a thank you for your patronage I'd like to give you all exclusive access to the newest Beyond the Pale story:  Courting Trouble.  I will be posting chapters as they're finalized well before they'll be put up on Wattpad.  You will be getting the exclusive first looks at the story before everyone else! 

Feel free to comment and critique with every update.  And again, thank you so much. 

Chapter 1

It was dark on the street outside my apartment. The lamp in front of the building wasn’t working, leaving a gap between the rows of golden cones shining down on the sidewalk. Light was showing in only a few windows. Being well after midnight, most of the tenants were probably asleep.

I fumbled with the bag of groceries in my hand as I inserted my key and pushed open the door, quickly shutting it behind me. Lingering in the dark is far more dangerous than most people know.

I rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and walked down the hall quietly. I went to unlock my own front door, but stopped as a shiver ran up my spine.

Pausing, I looked around slowly. The hall lights were poor, leaving dark corners and shadowed indentations, like growing mold. I saw the visitor after my eyes passed over them a second time.

It was human sized and shaped, dressed in a deep hoodie with the hood pulled up to hide its face. As I stared at it, the thing recoiled slightly, its movements quick and jerky, like a rodent, as if it wasn’t used to such intense attention. 

“Detective Nott,” the figure said, stepping forward just enough to hover at the edge of the shadows. “I mean you no harm. I need your help.”

“You could’ve make an appointment,” I said, finally turning the key in the lock.

The shape shook its hooded head. “I don’t think I could’ve.” Its voice was odd, muted. While the words were clear, the tone and pitch were hard to place, making it difficult to know the speaker’s gender.

Still, I knew what a lack of an appointment meant. It wasn’t a normal client. “What are you?”

It looked around cautiously before stepping partially into the light and lowering its hood. She was an elf.

Books, film, and cartoons have skewed the idea of what ‘elves’ look like to the average person. A century ago, the common description would have been tiny people living in mushrooms, in modern times, people think of tall, elegant, regal creatures of astounding beauty and grace. Thanks to movies, young girls and boys fantasize about humans with pointy ears. In reality, elves are only marginally similar to those in Tolkien’s opus and the movies they inspired.

She was narrow faced and pale, with a long chin and cheekbones so sharp they looked like they could cut glass. Her eyes were huge and brown, with no whites around the iris, and for the second time since I’d met her, I was reminded of a rat. In the near dark they appeared solid black. She lacked eyebrows, but her hair more than made up for it; dark and thick, more like fur than hair. It fell around her shoulders, enhancing the sharpness of her face. The effect wasn’t exotic or beautiful, she looked alien and strange.

“May I come in?” she asked, glancing around nervously at the open hallway.

I weighed my options. If she intended harm, she’d had plenty of time when my back had first been turned to her. I met her eyes and nodded, leaving the door open as I walked on through. “Come in.”