Trance’s body hit the hard wall. Something cracked. And she fell to the floor with a thud. Sparks began to swirl around her torso and heal her broken rib. Trance tried to push herself up, but collapsed into a coughing fit. Scarlet blood spattered the tile and her dirty silken nightgown. She lay on the floor, groaning.

Master loomed over her. Trance’s pale pink eyes fell on a loafered foot by her head. The traveled up the tailored suit pants, across the button-up shirt, and onto the man’s face. His features were hidden in shadows, but she could see his slicked back hair glistening in the light from the open door.

“Get up!” he barked, but Trance didn’t move. “I said, get up!” he said louder, and kicked her in the side. She just rolled over and moaned. “GET UP!” he yelled, and kicked her hard. Sparks again began to congregate around her ribs.

“That’s going to leave a bruise in the morning,” the Shifter groaned.

“You insolent pup!” cried Master, and grabbed the fairy by the throat. He lifted her as easily as a child would a kitten and pushed her against the wall, hitting the back of her head. Trance’s silvery blonde hair cascaded over his hand, matted with dirt and blood. Her flawless ivory skin was smudged with filth. She thrashed in his grasp, and flailed her arms uselessly at her captor. “Let me go!” she screamed, beating his arms with her fists. He just smiled ruthlessly and squeezed her neck. She choked and clawed at her throat.

“Now listen carefully, Trance,” he breathed, his face inches from hers. Close enough to see the color of his eyes; green. Wow, she hadn’t seen that before. “Your kind are very rare. It would be a pity to have to kill you. Do you catch my drift, Trance?”

Trance’s eyes watered and her face was flushed. But she just bared her teeth. “Bite…me,” she gasped.

Master laughed. “Attitude. A nice character trait…for a criminal.” He drew his hand back and Trance’s tiny frame fell to the filthy floor.

She sat up and rubbed her neck. She felt the back of her head tentatively and stopped. Trance drew her hand back and held it in front of her face. Her fingertips were stained crimson. She lifted her head and glared at the human towering over her. Her delicate features twisted in rage. Her white blonde hair snaked into jet black, her irises turned into a fiery red and her pupils narrowed into cat-like slits. Trance could be downright frightening when she tried. “What do you want from me?” she hissed through pointed teeth.

Master took her pointed chin in his cold fingers and lifted it. “I want you to do what I told you to do, and I want you to do it now,” he growled.

“Yes, Master,” she spat, heavy with contempt. Instead of punching him in the face as she wanted to and he so richly deserved, she stood, brushed herself off, and strode towards the door. She stopped halfway across the room and turned. Trance concentrated for a second. Immediately her hair lengthened and turned a chestnut brown, her skin darkened, and she grew nearly two feet. Her eyes changed from angry red to a soft chocolaty brown. “This disguise good enough for you?” she said sarcastically.

Master scanned her up and down and nodded approvingly. “That’s good. But change your nose a bit. You’re too recognizable.”

Trance closed her eyes and her nose lengthened and narrowed. “Better?”

“Yes.”

Trance turned and began to walk out of the room. “Trance, I want you downstairs and ready to go in forty five. And remember, don’t even think about running off. I know exactly where you are.” He gestured to his watch and smiled.

Trance rolled her eyes. As if she needed reminding before every crime that she had a locator chip in her head. She walked out the door to go get ready.

Master grinned. He could be making a fair amount of moolah very soon. If he could get this brat of a Shifter to cooperate. In some ways he almost disliked having a flunky to do his dirty work. Especially when said flunky copped a rebellious attitude. She was actually beginning to demand part of the reward. Oh well, if she didn’t do it correctly then he would just have to punish her. Little did he know that is wasn’t the lackey that wouldn’t cooperate. It was the target.

Trance fumed in the shower. Her magic was running out. Master hadn’t let her complete the Ritual in nearly four years. At least Shifting magic took little energy. She had lost track of the number of times that little display downstairs had happened. It took a lot of power to heal a broken rib.

But it wasn’t just lack of magic that was making her irritable. It was this whole god-forsaken situation. That guy was such a hypocrite! Handsome lucrative businessman by day, abuser by night. If the guys at the office knew what he was doing to his beloved “daughter” at home; beating her then sending her on crime sprees against her will. Some father. He couldn’t just boss her around like that. It was by pure misfortune that she had come into human hands in the first place. There was that back-stabbing jerk Tim, then Gwen the two-faced liar. And now this clown. Who did he think he was?

Trance rinsed the shampoo from her long hair. She watched the blood and dirt wash down the drain. She wished her problems would wash away that easily.

She scratched the scar behind her ear. Trance wished for the ten-billionth time that she could take this stupid chip out. She could, of course, get surgery on her skull, but she didn’t trust human doctors with her fragile fairy cranium just quite yet.

Trance took a deep breath and let the hot water pound on her forehead. She had to get ready to pull off her first kidnapping.

Some other stories by 1crazyhollyfan:

• Still here.
• Heaven at Christmas
• "Foaly's Visit" announcement
• The Long Awaited Part 3 of The Breakup!
• In the Face of Hardship