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It was nearly four a.m., and Nathan was still working, hunched over his laptop. He’d been writing for hours, deleting everything, then frantically typing more. He stretched in his chair. With a yawn, Nathan realized most of his buzz had worn off. Can’t have that. Every time sobriety approached, Nathan began feeling the slightest bit guilty over his actions. He sighed and got up from his cramped desk chair, lumbering down the hallway and absentmindedly scratching his chest.
“I need a drink,” Nathan muttered.
He opened his fridge and looked for more alcohol. Over the course of the night, he’d gone through two bottles of wine.
“Aha,” he said, spotting a half-open bottle of cooking sherry on the shelf of the fridge. “There we go.”
Nathan wasn’t going to think too hard about the fact he was drinking sherry straight from the bottle. He walked back to his office with the booze sloshing around in his belly. He didn’t feel tired, even though he’d been up all night drinking and writing. More like drinking and deleting, he thought in frustration. For some reason, writing about the púca didn’t come easy. It was hard to believe himself. It was challenging to make it believable for most readers.
Everyday Supernatural boasted a large fan base, but Nathan was fairly certain much of it was due to the lovely photos of Felicity and Cyn which accompanied some of the articles. They’d often travelled together, since Cyn’s work schedule was so erratic. It wasn’t the most professional thing in the world, but Nathan always encouraged Cyn to tag along because he hoped if she hung around long enough, she’d eventually develop feelings for him. Remembering it made him angry all over again. He sat in front of his laptop, and mashed the keyboard buttons:
The Púca of the Aran Islands
A few months ago, I wrote a post on the mythical púca of Ireland. Felicity took a trip to investigate a sighting, which she was supposed to blog about here. I know readers have asked for an update, and as editor-in-chief, I feel obliged to provide one.
As you all know, Everyday Supernatural often seeks to test the limits of what exists and what is fiction. We love a good scare as much as we love the truth, but in order to be a discerning paranormal investigation team, sometimes we have to uncover unpleasant truths. For instance, do you readers recall the reports of werewolves pillaging and looting a village in the Carpathian Mountains? It was one of the most convincing stories I’d ever heard. As you all know, I’m a lifelong sceptic who always looks to be proven wrong. So Felicity and I journeyed all the way to Slovakia. There were reports of Russian werewolves attacking the small town of Levoca, and the local people were looking for answers. Felicity researched, but we found no real proof. Attacks were happening all the time, and dozens of villagers were murdered. It was hard to convince the villagers otherwise, and it was hard not to accept the werewolf story as the truth. But then Felicity uncovered some recent immigrants to Levoca who had medieval ties to the town. Through great investigative research, she was able to uncover a feud that could be traced back through centuries. The real criminals weren’t werewolves at all. It was a band of surly teenagers employing gangs in order to scare the town.
I wish what I was about to tell you could be explained as easily as the werewolves of Levoca, but as you’re about to find out, the púca are real.”
Nathan paused and took a gulp of sherry from the bottle in his lap. The dry, yeasty taste lingered in his mouth. His tongue and teeth were fuzzy, and daylight filtered into his study, but he kept going. He knew he’d lose his resolve once he ran out of alcohol. Damn her. A vision of Cyn danced saucily into his head. She’s going to regret choosing that creature over me. She’ll see what she’s done once the truth comes out. Carrying on as she does with half of England is one thing, but I won’t allow her to destroy her life with that beast.
As he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, a memory pushed its way into Nathan’s head. He tried to shove it back, but it was too bloody insistent.
“Nathan!” Cyn chirps as she lowers herself into a chair on the opposite side of the table. “I’ve missed you so much!” She grins at him and winks, gesturing to her pink leather jacket and black satin pencil skirt. “I went shopping. It’s my first big pay cheque from a gig.”
“Cyn! You didn’t tell me it was today,” Nathan says, taking a long drink of beer. “You look fabulous.”
Cyn grins as she basks in Nathan’s compliments.
“Please.” Felicity rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell you. She wouldn’t shut up about it to anyone else.”
“Shush,” Cyn says playfully. “I did not.”
“Oh, if I had to hear just one more word about a certain male model who happened to be on the shoot with you I’d gag,” Felicity says.
Nathan makes a face, but Felicity is looking at Cyn and doesn’t notice.
“You should have heard her go on,” Felicity says. “It was like he could turn water into cream ale.”
A hot flash of jealousy surges through him as Cyn laughs.
“That’s not true. I mentioned him once or twice, that’s all.” Cyn shrugs, and turns her gaze to Nathan. “It was a great shoot, but you wouldn’t have cared for the art direction.”
“And why is that?” Nathan asks.
He plucks a piece of bread from the basket on the centre of the table and begins shredding it on his plate.
Felicity sighs, turning back to Nathan. “Now, what assignment did you want to tell me about?”
Ignoring Felicity, Nathan regards Cyn carefully. He’s almost afraid to hear the truth. “Who’s this?”
Cyn sighs. “He’s nothing, Nathan. A bloke I worked with on the shoot.”
“D’you like him?” Nathan asks quietly. He leans across the table.
Felicity sighs and gets up, stalking off. Most likely to the loo.
Cyn grins. “Of course, he was great fun. We had a blast, but it’s over.”
Even though Nathan should be relieved, he deflates at her admission. “What happened?”
He’s punishing himself, but it’s better than wondering and thinking the worst. Nathan doesn’t have a claim on her, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting her.
She shakes her head. “It was nothing, really. We went on a couple of dates, but it didn’t pan out. He was dishy. But it was just a fling, you know? He’s not really the kind of bloke I’d see again.”
Nathan furrows his brow. “Why not?”
Cyn sighs, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. “No particular reason. He was a bad snogger. Can we talk about something else, please?”
“Fine.” Nathan’s tone is short, and he turns away.
He concentrates on his breathing and tries to push his anger toward Cyn down. Finally, he spots Felicity walking back to the table slowly, eyeing them both.
“All right?” Felicity asks as she sits down.
Nathan sighs. “Fine.”
“Now tell me about that assignment,” Felicity says.
He shakes his head and gets up, muttering under his breath.
“What?” Felicity asks, concern furrowing her forehead.
Nathan figures lying is easier. “Nothing. I don’t feel well.” He tosses a few quid on the table. “You have a drink for me, ladies.”
Although Felicity tries to get him to stay, he brushes off her efforts. As she protests, Cyn sits at the table and scrolls through her phone, laughing at something she reads, probably from that guy. Maybe his imagination is getting the better of him, but either way she’s oblivious to his pain.
Nathan exhaled slowly. He’d never quite gotten over the hurt from that night. He wasn’t really angry about the bloke Cyn had dated—not after a while—but he was incredibly sad she never looked at him as anything other than a brother. Felicity tried to tell him so many times, but Nathan wasn’t able to accept the truth. Cyn didn’t care about him in that way. She never would. With renewed enthusiasm, he chugged the rest of the sherry and continued the blog post.
The initial reports came to me almost a year ago. Someone had spotted púca in the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. Now, if you need a refresher on the púca and don’t feel like scrolling back, here you go:
The púca, creatures first mentioned in Irish folklore, are often seen in rural or marine communities, and some people have embraced them. But they’re not always seen as creatures of good luck. Sometimes, the púca can be dangerous and deadly. Humans should fear for their lives and stay away from them.
Nathan read his work. He almost deleted the last sentence about the púca being dangerous, but only because he wasn’t sure if it would make people want to discover more about them and flock to the Aran Islands. After thinking about the modern world’s dreadful penchant for inflicting pain, he left the sentence.
Púca are shape shifters and are often seen as black horses, goats, and rabbits, but they can take human form. These creatures are far from human, however.
He thought that was a particularly clever part.
Sometimes in human form, the púca retain animal characteristics, like ears or a long tail. This isn’t always the case, and spotting a púca masquerading as a human is not always easy. They can also manipulate humans, convincing them to fall in love with them.
He knew that part was his anger and the alcohol doing the talking, but didn’t bloody give a damn.
Reports on púca behaviour have been mixed, with some researchers calling the púca malevolent and others considering them a blessing. However, if you’re to visit the Aran Islands, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t consider the púca a good thing. There was an incident a few months ago involving the death of a local girl, which I’m sure could be traced to the púca, as well as the occasional disappearing tourist. Felicity Forrest and Cynthia Beckett have not returned. Make no mistake, they’ve been seduced and lured in by the púca.
Nathan thought of Cyn, his ‘disappearing tourist’, in that beast’s arms, enjoying the lush green world she’d told him about. She’d described the place with misty eyes and the naïveté of a woman in love. His fury was appropriately stroked, and after another massive drink of sherry, he continued his coup de grâce.
Some local agricultural festivals and celebrations on the Aran Islands have revolved around the púca. For instance Samhain, a harvest festival, has been associated with the púca since ancient times. After harvest is taken in, anything that’s left inedible and unable to be harvested allegedly belongs to the púca. Some farmers even go so far as to leave a specific amount of their harvest for the neighbouring púca, out of fear their crops will suffer if they don’t take action.
Purportedly, November is the púca’s month, and the first of November is the only day where púca will be on their best behaviour. In many regions you’ll find púca are only spoken of with respect.
He took another swig.
Fear them as the farmers of the Aran Islands do. They are more than superstitions. There are very real dangers from these beastly creatures. Islanders know better than to provoke an ancient supernatural beast. Beware of the púca and don’t speak of them lightly. They’re said to be incredibly proud creatures, with a tendency for violence.
Nathan sat in his chair, rubbing his eyes. He felt a slight touch of guilt at remembering everything good Felicity shared with him about the púca. But this isn’t about her. It’s about me. It’s about getting Cyn out of a bad situation.
Do you really believe that, mate? his conscience seemed to say. Who was he trying to convince anyway?
The Aran Islands are the home to the fearsome púca. When Everyday Supernatural’s very own Felicity Forrest went to investigate...she never came home. I was left in suspense for days, terrified for her safety. Even though the Aran Islands are quite removed from the dangers of city life, there are various cliffs and overlooks from which she could have fallen. You can imagine my relief when she phoned. Felicity informed me she wouldn’t be able to finish the article until she’d done more research.
I thought this sounded a bit suspect, considering the length of time she’d spent in the Aran Islands. Felicity returned to London for a brief visit and we went to luncheon together to discuss her findings. Much to my shock and absolute horror, she revealed that the púca really do exist. She told me of a púca she had met. He sounded like an extremely dangerous individual, and I warned her to watch out for her own safety. Instead, she was seduced by one of them and decided not to come home. These creatures have the ability to manipulate and trick our women into scandalous deeds. Beware. They are the most fearsome creatures I’ve ever encountered.
I cannot speak to how Felicity discovered the púca. The image below is a photo of a púca included by an anonymous tipster (good job, readers) when I was first informed of the Aran Islands púca. Please watch out for these animals, and only go in search of them at your own risk.
Nathan sat back in his chair and cracked his knuckles, quite satisfied with his work. He opened his browser and went directly to the blog site, then copied and pasted the text from his rant into the blank paragraph body. His right thumb hovered over the “post” button, and Nathan closed his eyes for extra resolve. Click.
Nathan slumped in his chair and nodded off. He was too tired to proof the article he posted to the blog titled, which was titled: “The Púca of the Aran Islands by Felicity Forrest.”
