The Borrowed Face

Elisabetta was woken by shivers that ran up and down her spine. She found herself lying on the dew covered, lush grass. Her head was pulsing with pain. She must have hit it — why else would she hear music shimmering like bells? She was still in the forest.

"Marie?" she called out for her sister. "Marie, stop hiding! It's not funny! I'm scared."

She pushed herself up, but immediately fell back down. She felt a bit dizzy, but not that much to fall from it. Something was strange. Her hands seemed bigger, her legs felt longer, like her body grew overnight —or, who knows how long she was sleeping here?

She was about to burst out in tears from the thought that her sister would leave her alone in the forest. She should have carried her back into the house of Aunt Gabrielle with their cousin, Marcel.

"Maybe they just left to bring help. At least one of them could have stayed with me." she sighed.

The last thing Elisabetta recalled was following her sister into the woods, and when she eventually caught up with her, Marcel showed up. He was always rude with her and Marie. She slightly remembered Marcel's expression burning with fury, and that Marie held her tight. But what happened after that? Why was she left alone? She couldn’t piece it together.

The forest didn't look like the one by Aunt Gabrielle's house. The trees looked taller, and bright like emeralds. The flowers swayed like small jewels watching her every move. And above, she could see the endless twilight sky, stitched with silver threads of stars.

Something moved and Elisabetta startled, wiping the dew from her palms as she scrambled upright again. Out from the sapphire fern stepped a shadow — it appeared as a girl at first. Her hair shone like threads of gold spun with moonlight, her smile bright as the solstice Sun. She was ethereal, so light she barely touched the grass with her feet.

She welcomed her with flattery: “At last, the one we’ve been waiting for. We thought you’d never wake. You must be exhausted.”

Elisabetta blinked. “Who are you? Where’s Marie?”

The stranger tilted her head. "Marie? Such a dull name. Forget about her. You are safe here, and among friends. Come, let me take you where the others wait."

Something inside Elisabetta twisted at her words, but the girl’s hand was already in hers — her touch felt cold, her long fingers firm as iron despite their grace. She wanted to pull back, but something kept her still.

The landscape changed and the view unfolded like a painted veil. Trees arched into green cathedrals, birds trilled and harmonized with the tunes of mushrooms.

"What is this place?"

The girl glanced at Elisabetta, her eyes glowing faintly. "Don't drop your jaw, you might not get it back." she giggled. "This is Fæ, the land of charm and beauty, feasts that never end, and laughter that never fades. You will see how wondrous it is, once you get settled."

Elisabetta hesitated. "This isn’t the forest by Aunt Gabrielle’s house. It's beautiful. But why would I settle? I'd like to get back to my sister."

"No!" The girl's gaze sharpened as she snapped at Elisabetta, though only for an instant. "We are your family now. Come, let me introduce you." she said, her tone honey-sweet again.

Elisabetta couldn't help but follow, her legs marching to the command of a greater power.

The banquet was everything the fæ had promised and more. Tables stretched until the edge of the twilight horizon, piled high with fruit on silver platters, wine shimmered like liquid dawn, cakes frosted with the promises of summer nights. Flute music rippled through the air, tinkling like a nightingale.

She never felt so… wanted. Every fæ she met called her lovely, clever, the most delightful guest. They danced with her, their moves flawless and light as air.

They fed her with food that melted on her tongue like nectar, and when she drank the wine, it fizzed in her veins. For the first time since she followed Marie into the woods, she forgot about being left behind. She forgot about Marie at all.

Days slid by as a dream. She felt beautiful, cherished, and belonging. She laughed until her stomach ached, danced around the forest until her feet hardly touched the grass.

She walked to the grove and laid down by the lake to rest. The water shimmered with its own delight, reflecting the sky and the swirling fireflies. Elisabetta leaned over the water, eager to refresh herself.

But the face reflected back on the surface wasn’t hers.

Marie looked back at her. Elisabetta touched her face and the reflection followed, imitating all her moves like always when Marie was making fun of her little sister.

"What… what is this?" she whispered.

She ran back in the forest, to the banquet, searching for herself in polished silverware and the bottoms of laced china plates.". But only Marie stared back with Elisabetta's fear growing in her eyes.

"What is this? Where is my sister? Why do I see her in my reflection?" the dance stopped, the music startled as she flipped the table over. "I want to go home." she cried.

A grip tightened on her shoulder. “Ignore such visions, they mean nothing. But at last, you got what you bargained for. Beware what you wish for, because the fæ never disappoints."

The realization struck Elisabetta with a sudden force like the lightning that split the old oak in two in Aunt Gabrielle's backyard.

Her eyes glazed, as her memories returned — not in a rush, but in fragments. Her parents as they dropped them at Aunt Gabrielle's. Marie planning her secret escape. Herself, following Marie into the woods like a hungry ghost fearing to be left behind. Marcel and his rage. Marie wishing him away.

Eventually, it all details came together like on a tapestry. The glowing mushroom circle. Wind blown by a single tree. Her own bleeding milk tooth that fell out when Marcel hit her. Their aunt's brownie crumbling in her palm. A careless wish to be as beautiful and strong as Marie.

"No, I can't stay here! I already stayed too long. My sister, my dear sister! Where is she? What did you do to Marie?"

The fæ's joy curdled. The feast’s laughter still echoed between the pillars of the trees. The music’s perfect notes now grated like broken glass.

The beautiful fæ leaned closed and Elisabetta noticed a strange spark in her eyes. For a moment she could see her true face — something ghastly, skeletal, and hungry.

She looked around and all she saw was glamour, fractured. Smiles stretching wider than mouths should allow, a shadow not matching the movement, trees turning pale like ashes, wine smelling sour and food rotting on the table when no one's watching.

"You chanted to rhyme and paid the triple sacrifice — bone, blood, offering — and whispered your hearts desire. By our law, you belongs to Fæ now."

Elisabetta tried to scream, but her voice came out soft, like it was pulled away by the wind. She staggered back from the table, Marie's face still haunting her from every polished surface.

"No!" she cried, though her words fell like pebbles into a dark pit. "This can't be! It must be a nightmare."

The fæ circled closer, their beauty gleaming again like a perfect disguise.

A voice whispered in her ear, soft as a lullaby but sharp as a thorn: "You wanted to be strong. You wanted to be beautiful. You wanted to be her."

Elisabetta shook her head, tears burning her cheeks as she understood: there's no escape. "Not like this. Not if it means losing myself and everyone I love. Will I ever see my family again?"

The fæ answered with a grim smirk as she pulled fairy dust from her pocket and sprinkled it around, enchanting the world with her teasing glamour again.

The banquet picked up from where it was left off, lively as ever. Golden wine bubbling from the fountains, fruit shining in piles like gemstones, birds singing their waltz as dashing couples swung by.

And with that, Elisabetta's fear ebbed away. She remained among the fæ, crowned with garlands, forever admired — perfect from far away, but from up close a hollow shell. Her face forgotten, and never herself — fading until nothing remains.

~~~

🕯️ NOTE:

I wrote this story as part of a series, that I created by stories inspired by other challenges.

"The summer that never ended" explains how Elisabetta ended up with the fæ and why things turned out the way they did.

"Instructions for disappearing" is a cursed rhyme that evokes the fæ folk.

"The porch between us" tells the story of Marie and what happened to her after Elisabetta disappeared.