Iris

"Thank you, Roger," I said sweetly to the pharmacist. He gave me a large smile and waved at me before I walked out of the store. I'd become rather accustomed to the people working here after having to pick up medication from my grandfather after all this time.

I began the short and familiar walk home and tucked the small brown bag into my purse. It was rare that it was ever this bright in the Underworld, but it was a nice change.

I quickly continued walking and after a few minutes, I reached my porch. I climbed the steps, but my walking slowly halted as I saw the front door slightly open. I furrowed my brows in confusion and walked towards it.

I always lock the door when I leave.

I pushed open the door slowly to see nothing out of place and I stepped in. "Grandad?" I called out.

"Leave, Iris!" I heard him yell.

I immediately ignored his order and ran in the direction of the yelling. I reached the living room and my eyes widened when I saw my grandfather bleeding out on the floor. I was panic-stricken as I rushed to his side and held a hand over the wound on his stomach.

"Iris, no..." he said weakly as he looked behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see Mia sitting on the couch licking a bloody knife and my mouth dropped. "Mia, why would you do this?!"

"Don't worry," she said in boredom. "I will heal him. He won't die."

"Why are you here?!" I yelled as tears streamed down my face. I could hear my grandfather's breathing become shallower and the blank look on her face did nothing to help me calm down.

"I needed to speak with you," she said. "This was to get your attention." She got up from the couch with a sigh and pushed me to the side before crouching down to my grandfather. She bit the tip of her finger and placed it into his mouth momentarily.

She stood up after a few moments and I watched as the open wound closed. With a relieved breath, I helped my grandfather off the floor and sat him down on the couch.

"Please leave," I begged as I turned back to Mia. "We won't call the police, but leave."

"I'm not afraid of the police," she said dryly. "I also am not here to kill anyone. But trust me when I say that past me definitely would have. I'm growing, you know?"

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to take off whatever spell you have over Cain," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cain is in love with you," she said. "I know it's because you're somehow using whatever fairy magic you have to make him."

"No, he's not," I said as I shook my head.

"Then why can I smell his scent in here?" She asked as she closed her eyes.

"We just hung out," I admitted. "He's just my friend, I promise."

"Well," she said. "You may see him as a friend, but he's being tricked into liking you."

"I have no spell on him," I said honestly. "I can't even do any spells."

"I don't believe you!" She yelled. "I won't be deceived by you like he was."

"I'm not—"

"Shut up!" She snapped. "I don't want to hear shit. I'm just here to protect my friend."

"I wouldn't hurt him," I cried. "Please just go."

"I can only be sure one way," she said as she crouched down to my level. "As I'm sure you know...fairy magic comes from the wings."

I nodded slowly as my heart pounded in my chest. "Y-yes."

"If you want your grandfather to live," she said with a comforting smile. "You'll let me cut them off."

"My wings?" I asked as my voice broke.

"Yes," she nodded. "Whatever spell you have on Cain should wear off afterward."

I would've told her I didn't have any spell on him, but it would've been useless. She would've gotten angrier and seeing how unpredictable she was...I didn't want to risk her hurting anyone.

My wings meant everything to me. They were what made me and all the thousands of fairies in the world who they were. I loved them more than I loved myself, but I loved my grandfather more. And if I had to lose a part of myself for him to stay alive, then I'd do it.

It was an illegal and brutal crime to remove wings. In the eyes of the Underworld law, it was seen as a hate crime. When I met Mia previously, I didn't think she seemed like a person to do such a thing.

"Okay," I whispered. "You'll leave us alone after?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. "As long as you leave the Underworld afterward."

"Why can't I just keep my wings and leave?" I questioned.

"I don't want Cain to still have feelings for you," she said. "I won't let your evil claws remain in him. As for your grandad, would you rather he die here and now?"

I knew Cain didn't have any feelings for me. And I knew that I did nothing to prompt those feelings even if he did. I just couldn't reason with a psychopath, so what was I to do?

Nothing.

I stood up and turned my back to her wearily. My grandfather shook his head weakly and tried to stand up to stop her but she pushed him back down. "She's doing this so you won't die. Don't make me do it anyway."

"Leave her alone!" He yelled.

She grabbed my arm and I held back tears as she led me into the restroom. She closed the door behind us and ushered me into the walk-in shower. "Take your shirt off."

I did as she said and dropped it to the floor. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and left my wings flutter out. I cried into my hands as I felt her hands on them and bile rose in my throat.

I felt the cool metal of the knife on my back and I screamed out as the blade carved into my skin. My vision blurred as I screamed but I could see the blood trailing down the drain. I looked down at my hands and it looked like I was melting.

The dark purple color that showed my fear was now dripping off my skin and onto the white shower floor. Now instead of just the blood, a whole rainbow of colors was leaving my body. I sobbed as Mia tossed one of my wings to the floor and I couldn't keep myself standing anymore.

I dropped to my knees and held my black and green shiny wings against my chest. That's when I noticed that my arms now lacked any bright color. It was back to its tan hue and I could see that the hair blocking my sight was its old shade of dark brown and I cried harder.

A fairy without wings was just a human. I was now stripped of any of the color-changing abilities I previously had. I never truly believed how much I'd miss my colors until I watched them go down the drain.

I almost didn't even feel her cutting into my other wing until she pulled it off my skin roughly. She must've been tired of the knife and began ripping it off me but this was somehow more painful. I screamed as she pulled it off and I could hear my grandfather banging on the restroom door.

"Please leave her alone!" He screamed.

That broke my heart even more. It somehow seemed even worse than the physical pain I was experiencing.
When Mia was done, she tossed the other wing beside me and clapped her hands. "And we're done. If I were you I'd be a little bit happy. You're not some mood ring anymore, you know?"

I ignored her statement and she stood up from the floor. "I'm sorry about this, Iris. I hope you understand it's no hard feelings. I'm doing this for my best friend."

I stayed quiet and tried not to tremble at the pain searing my back and she walked towards the door to leave. "Move out the way, old man," she laughed. I heard her keep walking and when the front door slammed, the waterworks continued.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see my grandfather struggle on his cane to come to my side. It was painful for him to walk so it broke my heart to see him come all this way for me. He cried as he looked down at the mess all over the floor and he fell to my side.

I cried as he wrapped his arms around me and he kissed the top of my head. "We need to leave the underworld," I whispered.

"Look at me," he said as he pulled away. I did as he said and he took a deep breath. "I didn't raise a coward. It's not in your nature to run away."

"She'll kill you..."

"You want to know something, sweetie?"

"What?" I asked weakly.

"I don't give a damn. We fairies for centuries have been dealing with this abuse. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. What sets you apart from them is you have my blood running in your veins. We are fighters, do you understand?"

"But-"

"I'm going to die," he said as he cupped my cheeks. I shook my head quickly and he nodded. "I am. Maybe not today, but soon."

I cried softly and he wiped my tears. "I'm fighting for my life over here because I'm not ready to leave you in this scary place. You saw what just happened. If I weren't here, you would've let that puta drive you out of the Underworld."

"I know," I whispered.

"It's up to you, sweetie," he said as tears streamed down his face. "If you want to leave, we'll go right now."

As hard as it was to decide, I knew my answer. I didn't say it out loud, but the small smile that appeared on his worried face showed me that he already knew.

Nobody ever dabbled into the world of astrology and tarot cards without dealing with a tiny bit of black magic. I wasn't my strongest right now, but when I was, Mia would get what was coming to her. I thought about my revenge as my vision began to fill with small back dots and blurry lights.

"Iris," I heard my grandfather call as he slapped my cheek gently. I tried to open my eyes but they became heavier and heavier as my body became limp.

My eyes fluttered shut as I tried to fight sleep but eventually lost. I could hear the faint beating of my heart and my body relaxed as I took my last breath.

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Iris you're sexy lemm-....anywaysss

Okay let me stop cuz this was a pretty serious chapter. Don't get me wrong, I get that Mia is trying to "protect" Cain, but this hurt on a whole new level😔.

What you do guys think will happen next?
How do we like her new aesthetic?
Lmk your thoughts ✨