Page 32 of Touched

Blinking again, I take in the man, er… no, troll. He doesn’t look scary, just… different. His nose is almost too big for his face. His eyes are dark gray, and his skin seems to have a grayish tint as well. It’s textured, almost like leather or dried mud. He’s short, stockily built. Shaggy red hair pokes out from under a strange little hat.

A troll. I’m looking at a fucking troll. In the Mid-City Library!

Somehow, my voice is calm as I reply, “I’m not in shock from seeing you. More caught off-guard, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of your kind. Other than in books and movies. You don’t resemble the trolls fromFrozenthough. How the hell do you know my name?”

“Did you just compare me to the trolls in human books and movies?” he speaks, his voice perplexed.

“I did not. I only said I’d never seen a troll outside of, er, the two.” Again, my voice is calm, as though speaking to a troll in the middle of a library is perfectly normal.

First a fairy… and now a troll…

He chuckles. “Oh, I know. I’m just fooling around, Callum.” My brows rise at his use of my name… again. He knows who I am. “My name is Trevor and I do believe I can help you,” he says, rounding the corner of the bookshelf.

He can help me… with finding Aeris?

He’s much shorter now that I can see him in full view. About the height of a small child. He only reaches to just above my knee. Though he’s very compact. Somehow, I manage to ask, “Help me with what, per se? And you didn’t answer my question… how the fuck do you know my name?”

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t know. I saw you.” He ignores my question, again. Leaning closer, he mock whispers, “Talking to thefairy girl.”

He does mean Aeris. He can help me?

How?

“You know only mythical creatures can see each other.” His eyes lock on me. “You saw her. So, I also know you’re notcompletelyhuman.” His eyes rove over me from his diminutive height. He mutters, “Though, you certainly look like a human.”

Just who the hell does this troll think he is?

And why is he saying human with such disdain?

Leaning down, I get closer to his level, and say through gritted teeth, “You saw me… Are you stalking me, little dude?”

There is no way this is happening right now.

Clenching my eyes closed, I shake my head, hoping he will not be here when I open them again. Cracking them open a slit, I look down.

Damnit!

He’s still here.

Is this all real?

I feel as if I’m getting pranked—again. Surely, this has to be someone punking me. It’s all too surreal otherwise.

“I stalk none. Yet, I know all,” he says, moving closer to me. I instinctively take a step back. The scent of earth and minerals fills my nose. It’s not unpleasant. It just reminds me of the smell of the bayous.

Holding my hand out, I mutter, “I think that is close enough, sir. Now tell me… How is it you think you can help me?”

As if hearing nothing I said, he again moves closer.

“Lean down, Callum. We must whisper as we can’t let anyone hear or see you talking to a bookshelf.” His eyes seem to twinkle.

Fuck me.

He’s right. Bad enough I was caught, seemingly talking to myself, in the middle of the damn street the other day. If someone sees me in here, talking to a bookshelf, I’ll certainly be sent to a psychiatrist and remanded to take some “time off.”

Trevor continues, “Remember they can’t see me. The humans will think you’ve gone mad. You must trust me if you want to find your fairy girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? My girlfriend? I must trust this troll to find Aeris?

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