The Fox’s Tale

Despite being the shortest month of the year February felt like it lasted forever. Ellery and I had a lowkey Valentine’s Day at a spa where we got a couple’s massage. That was the only break we got though.

All our other spare time was filled with school and basketball. We finished the regular basketball season with an undefeated record of 21-0, and then breezed through the district tournament.

We won the first round of our regional tournament easily, but the second game took two overtimes for us to put the other team away.

We were the second game of the night and by the time it was all over and we’d showered, dressed, and grabbed a quick bite to eat, it was almost midnight. We were exhausted.

“I wish these seats were bigger,” I said, a giant yawn splitting my face. “Can I use you as a pillow, Princess?”

“Sure, Foxy.” Ellery paused. “Coach Hendrix, where’s Lewis?”

“Outside having a smoke.” Coach Hendrix stuck his head out the door. “Hey Lewis, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Coming!” Lewis lumbered onto the bus and put it in gear before he’d even finished sitting down. All around us the team settled into various positions to try and snatch some shut eye. Ellery stroked my hair and I was almost asleep when her hand stilled.

“Something’s wrong. Billy,” she hissed, “come here.”

Coach Murphy swung himself into the seat in front of us. “What is it?”

“Something’s wrong with Lewis.” Ellery nodded towards the bus driver.

He turned and studied him. “He seems fine.”

“I’m telling you something is wrong. There are eighteen people on the bus, not counting me, and I can only feel seventeen.”

The color left Coach Murphy’s face. “Shit.”

This made me sit up and sniff. “Matt,” I muttered, leaning back in the seat, “do you smell that?”

Matt, who had also been half asleep, inhaled sharply. His eyes flew open. “Something’s dead.”

“Get your dad to move back Matt, now,” Ellery ordered in an agonized whisper.

Matt struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. “Hey Dad? Can you come here? I want to talk to you about something.”

“Wait until we stop at the next light.” Coach Hendrix hated when people moved around while the bus was moving.

“No, now Dad, it’s important.”

With an exasperated sigh Coach Hendrix left his seat and started working his way back to us. “What is so damn important that it couldn’t wait, Matthew?” he asked. The bus swerved before he reached us, sending him crashing into an empty seat.

“What’s the matta? Ya’ll don’t wanna sit near ol’ Lewis?” The voice that came out of our bus driver was garbled and thick.

The bus took another hard turn and picked up speed. Several other players were roused from their near sleeping state and alarm tore through the bus like a stomach virus in a preschool.

“Where the hell are we going?” demanded Nick after he’d been thrown against the window by Lewis’s erratic driving. “This isn’t the way home.”

“Oh, y’alls not goin’ home,”′ Lewis slurred.

A chorus of “what the fuck” went up over the bus. Ellery grabbed hold of our terror and did her best to tamp it down. She grimaced with the effort as I clutched her hand.

“Everyone, stay calm, don’t move out of your seats, but make sure your phones are in your pockets,” ordered Coach Murphy.

The only sounds after that were the roar of the engine, blares from car horns, and a sucking sound emitting from Lewis that grew louder. The bus accelerated even more and then Lewis cut the wheel hard, sending the bus over the shoulder of the road and barreling down a ravine. Profanity and prayers were shouted out, while Coach Murphy and Ellery chanted in Gaelic.

The bus slammed to a stop and tilted to the right. I held onto Ellery to keep her from falling out of the seat as the bus groaned, tilting even further before finally coming to a stop.

The emergency lights flickered on long enough for us to get a good look at Lewis, slumped over dead, a tree branch driven through the windshield and his chest. Then the lights went out.

“Is everyone okay?” yelled Coach Hendrix.

Everyone managed to stammer out some form of yes, along with a number of curses, groans, and at least one “get off me man.”

“What should we do?” asked Nick as he rubbed his temple. His head had smacked the window hard, and had he not been a Shifter he’d have been concussed for sure.

Ellery braced herself with one foot against the seats on the other side of the aisle and then sprang down to the windows. She peered out the windows and then sprang back up to the aisle.

“Wow, I must have really hit my head,” muttered Sam. “Are you hopping around the bus, Ellery?”

She didn’t answer him, just kicked off her shoes and slid down the aisle towards Lewis where she peered out the part of the front windshield that could still be seen through.

“We have to get off this bus. Now.”

“Are you crazy? It’s snowing.” Andy spoke for all of the non-shifters on the team.

“What do you see, Ellery?” asked Coach Murphy.

“No man’s land.” She used the legs of the seats like a ladder and climbed back up towards the center of the bus. “If we don’t get out of this bus, we’re all going to die very painful deaths. Can’t you all smell it?”

Everyone took a good sniff and all the Shifters on the team went wide eyed with barely contained panic. Gasoline.

“I don’t smell anything,” said one of the humans, a senior named Dylan.

I swiveled in my seat so I could address my teammates better. “Trust me, Ellery’s right, we’ve got to get off this bus. Now.”

“Of course you’re going to back up your girlfriend,” groused Ryan.

“Listen here, you little shit,” I started, but Ellery interrupted.

“If we stay here we die. Now do what Billy and I tell you and we all just might survive tonight.” The tone in her voice snapped everyone to attention and compliance.

“The emergency exit is here on the side of the bus. Grant, you and Scott get it open and then jump down. Give us an idea of how far. Take your coats and your phones, but leave everything else.” Coach Murphy gave out orders like a field general.

“Um, Coach? How should we do that?” Scott raised a valid concern. “The bus is almost completely on its side. Those doors are heavy and we’ve got nothing to brace ourselves against to push it up.”

“Yeah, we aren’t Spider-man Coach,” added Grant.

Coach Murphy turned to Ellery. “Got any ideas, El? My juice doesn’t work on no man’s land.”

“Yeah, but I need Lee’s help.”

Lee was in the very last seat of the bus. “Happy to help, but how the hell am I supposed to get there?”

“Slide, Pooh Bear.”

Lee shook his head. “You asked for it.” He eased himself into the aisle and let go.

Right before he barreled into her she called out “brace!” and Lee managed to jam his feet onto the seats to stop his slide.

“What’s the plan Elly?” he asked.

“You’ve seen Devon pushing me up in the hand hold at football games right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts. We’re running out of time. Brace your feet against that side of the bus. When you’re ready I will step into your hands. Then all you have to do is hold on and push me up. I’ll get the door open.” She turned her attention from Lee to the rest of the team. “No one else moves until the door is open, understand?”

We all held our collective breath as Lee did as directed and pushed Ellery to where she could unlatch the door. After a struggle she got it unlocked and then said, “push as hard as you can, Lee.”

Lee roared as he shoved Ellery upwards with all his might and she shoved the door open and somersaulted out of the opening.

“Ellery!” I screamed and Coach Murphy launched himself over the seats and did a pull up to look out the door. He pulled his head back in and warned, “brace yourselves” as the bus began to creak and groan. It tilted towards the side that had been up in the air.

“Haul ass!” he yelled as soon as the bus was angled to a degree that we could access the door. Players pelted out of the door to what we thought of as safety. I scrambled out of the door, frantic to reach her.

“Ellery! Ellery!” I spun in circles trying to find her. When the last person jumped out of the bus it creaked again and then went over completely on its other side.

Ellery was on her knees under where the bus had been tilted towards the ground. “Fucking hell!” I yelled as I ran to her side. “What’s happening? What were you doing?”

“We’re in no man’s land Alexander. It’s where the human realm, the Seelie realm, and the Unseelie realm meet. Magic doesn’t work properly in no man’s land; we’re trapped.”

“Wait, if magic doesn’t work what were you doing to the bus?”