The Lost Son | Ferry's Tale # 2

Love marks (part two)

The next day, at school, Ferry and Ben kept a close eye on Andrew, or whatever his name was because they now had proof that this strange boy was not the son of the Donovans. After the revelation, Ferry felt he was one step closer to discovering the mysteries around him.

But Andrew seemed only a shadow of what he had once been. He had lost a lot of weight and his face had become almost cadaverous. His black hair had lost its shiness, and even a few strands of white hair appeared. His eyes had lost their vivid, April-leaf color. His hair had grown, but it was ruffled and untidy. He had lost focus on his lessons and his grades were beginning to drop.He had moved away from everyone. Even from Billy. Now, during the break, and under the watchful eyes of Ferry and Ben, they seemed to quarrel. Billy tried to convince him of something, but Andrew stubbornly nodded. Billy tried to get closer to him, but Andrew took a few steps away. His gesture brought sadness to Billy's face. The boy tried again, but Andrew lifted the collar of his jacket to cover his face, and walked away from him. He passed by Ferry and Ben, glancing at them. Billy hurried to catch up with him, begging him to stop and listen. But Andrew continued on his way and entered the school.

"What are you two looking at?" Billy snapped as he passed by.

Ferry took Ben to a more secluded place in the schoolyard, where they could talk quietly.

"What do you think is going on with Andrew?" Ben asked, also intrigued by the transformations he had noticed in him.

"I don't know ... But it's odd."

"Alright, let's look at the facts," Ben suggested. "This is what we know so far: we know that Andrew and Mrs. Jones are fairies. We know that using fairy powers in the human world weakens a fairy. We know that they somehow managed to use the power of another fairy to survive in the human world. We also know that Andrew gave up using his fairy powers to live among humans."

"But somehow, that still seems to affect him ..." said Ferry. "Lavender gave up using them for decades, but that didn't make her any weaker. As such, she still lives well, thank you."Ben gave it a though, "That means Andrew is still using a fairy ability. Or rather, he is forced to use it in order to live among people."

"What's that?" Ferry asked, his eyes wide.

"Shapeshifting," Ben said.

Ferry shuddered. There were few fairies who could change their shapes. Amalghams, but they only changed into animals, when needed. They could not take on the appearance of a human. There were also the small creatures that could take on the appearance of a man, but which left traces of their real nature, such as the Pooka. But there was another kind of faires who could shapeshift without anyone suspecting.

"Hollowers," Ferry whispered.

Ben looked at him and Ferry read the concern in his eyes.

"That's why he doesn't want to be seen by a doctor. Because they would realize he's not human. But if he doesn't use the energy of another fairy," Ferry said, "that means Andrew will be weaker and weaker, but closer to his true appearance."