A Cold Fey in Hell

“Oh. My. God. It’s soooo big! I’m not sure if I can take it,” I gasped in wonder as I gaped at what stood before me in a mixture of horror and wide-eyed awe. “Okay Crystal, you can do this, just take it a little bit at a time and before you know it, you’ll forget all about how intimidating it looks,” I tried to convince myself, taking a deep breath and turning to my companions as I bit my lip nervously.

“Geeze, Sis. Could you sound any more like a porno? Would you like to try again? I’m sure there are some guys around not looking at us yet,” Jessica said with a roll of her eyes. From the way her lips were twitching, I was pretty sure she was trying not to laugh at me.

I really needed to start thinking before opening my mouth. I felt my face turning that familiar shade of red again as I realized what I had said, and just how dirty it sounded, especially coming from a Nymph. Jessica was right too, nearly every guy nearby had their eyes on me, and that was saying something since Jess was pretty much identical to me and we were with Rhissa too.

I would have thought Melody would have glammed it up a bit hanging out with three hotties like us, but she was still going for her pretty, yet understated, Chinese girl look. I guessed that she wanted people to not give her a second look and to underestimate her. She was mostly quiet too, except when she had something to say, for the same reason, I think.

So, since out of the three hot girls in our group I was the one who had opened my big mouth and unintentionally let raw sex drip out in a voice loud enough to carry, I was getting all the attention. Having all that attention on me was affecting me too; I could feel my panties getting damp even as my cheeks burned in embarrassment and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Just great. Now I was mortified, anxious, and horny. Good going, me.

I took a nervous step back and nervously squeaked, “Umm… I’m not really sure I’m ready for this much mall yet, and there are so many people here. What if we see someone we know? Maybe we should re-think this idea.”

“Relax Crystal, we’ll try to make it quick and just go about our business like everyone else. Focus on the task, not the crowds. It’s not like any of you know anyone here in town who would want to stop and socialize anyway. I know where all the stores we’re going to are too, so we won’t need to wander around. We’ll be done and home in no time,” Rhissa said encouragingly.

Jessica put her arm around me and nodded as she agreed in a near whisper. “Yeah, Sis, this is gonna be fun, and we need clothes and stuff. You need to get used to being around people anyway, so you might as well start now. We’re in one of the biggest malls in the world, in an entirely different city, so let’s try to enjoy it and ignore the rude staring people. Even if we did run into someone we used to know, they’d never recognize us, especially you. Besides, other than maybe some of the people who work at the club, what are the odds of us running into someone we know here, of all places? We’re more likely to win the lottery.”

They were both right, of course. I tried to ignore all of the people except for my companions and took another deep breath to steady myself as I noticed that a couple of guys seemed to be getting over their apprehension and coming toward us. “Let’s go and get this over with.”

Rhissa nodded and started to lead us through the mall to our first destination before our admirers could make any moves. As I said, the mall is huge and as we wandered along the first floor Rhissa told us about it, and pointed out everything interesting since it would have taken us days to see everything. In addition to having over eight hundred stores, West Edmonton Mall also had an eighteen-hole mini-golf course, bowling alley, skating rink, aquarium, waterpark, amusement park, and two hotels. Only about a dozen of the businesses were geared toward Paranormals though, and each of them had powerful spells to keep the normies from noticing them or taking an interest in them.

Our first stop turned out to be a salon called Shear Bliss, where we were greeted by a pale woman with long straight blonde hair and deep brown eyes. She wore a sleeveless, ankle-length green wool dress and as she walked toward us, I could see hooves rather than feet peeking out from underneath. I thought that I could pick out a faint Scottish accent as she gave us a million-watt smile and said, “Rhiss! I wasn’t expectin’ you back for at least a few weeks since you were just in on Thursday. I’ll assume that you’re not here for you today then, so how can I help all of you?”

“Heather, I’d like you to meet Crystal, Jessica, and Melody. The twins here are Tiffani’s daughters and Melody will be working as a bouncer in the club soon. Girls, this is Heather McKinnon, the owner of this salon and the best hairdresser and nail technician in Edmonton.” Rhissa provided. Then, seeing the direction of my gaze, she explained, “She’s a Glaistig, Crystal. They’re a lot like Fauns but they come from Scotland, and they’re all female.”

Heather looked over us and smiled. “It’s nice to meet all of you. So, Tiff’s girls, are ya? You’re both Nymphs then? Interestin’ colorin’, quite lovely.”

Jess shook her head in response. “No, our dad was a Púca. I took after him and Crystal only Manifested recently, so she’s still trying to adjust. Her hair really grew out though and she could use a haircut, it’s too long and a bit uneven in spots. Melody and I can both shapeshift our hair, but Crystal doesn’t have that luxury.”

“It would be a pleasure to work on such lovely hair, did you just want the hair done then, Dearie?” the Glaistig asked as she pulled me toward one of the chairs.

“I was thinking the works, Heather,” Rhissa said as she walked alongside Heather. “You know how vain we Nymphs and Huldras can be about our appearances, so she’ll probably want to look her best. Tiffani suggested getting her ears pierced too, and a makeup lesson with a focus on what products are safe for her allergies since she’s new to this. You still sell the Fey-safe makeup kits, right?”

As I was guided to a chair and sat down, I saw Heather nodding in the mirror. “Aye, an’ she’s a winter, so I should have plenty in stock, I don’t get to sell many for girls with coloring as light as hers.”

“A winter? Is that some sort of Snow Nymph joke?” I wondered, my brow furrowing in confusion.

Heather laughed but shook her head as she began to unweave my braid. “No, Dearie. It just means that pure colors are going to look best on you, deepened or cool colors like blues, greens, and purples. Reds, black, and darker shades would work for you as well.”

“Oh,” I managed and then stayed quiet as she finished unbraiding my hair and looked at what she had to work with.

I could see that big smile again in the mirror as she exclaimed. “Such beautiful long hair! It’s so thick and wavy. That should keep your ears well covered when you wear your hair loose. It’s very eye-catching too, especially with your eye color. I’ll even it out, and lose a bit o’ the length, but I really think that you should consider keepin’ it long.”

In the end, my vanity won out. Heather had washed, conditioned, and evened it out and now rather than falling to the middle of my thighs, it was only down to my hips making it slightly lighter and less in the way while still looking a lot nicer on me than a short style would. She also showed me several different ways I could style it at that length to keep looking my best.

While Heather had been working on my hair, one of her employees, a very pretty Sylph with hair as white as my own had given me a manicure and pedicure. It was a little weird having someone playing around with my hands and feet, but it was kind of relaxing as well, and soon both my toenails and fingernails were painted a glittery ice blue that matched my eyes. The last touch was the piercings, damn did those hurt, two silver-hued studs in each earlobe and a dangling snowflake on a chain hanging from my newly pierced navel.

I hadn’t planned on the latter, well I hadn’t really planned on anything more than the hair, but Rhissa was right about the vanity thing. I wanted to look my best, and I remembered thinking about how hot girls with pierced navels were when I was a guy, hell I still found them hot. Since my current top was showing off my midriff anyway, I wanted to look sexy while doing it. Melody seemed to like it too, which pleased me immensely.

After that was done, the Glaistig found one of the aforementioned makeup kits. Seriously, it was like a big pink toolbox, almost as big as the one I used for some of my tools when I was Seth, and it was filled with stuff that I had no idea how to use. Heather told me what each product was for, that she sold a lot of the products at the salon if I ran out, and that she would give me a beginner lesson for a simple look.

I watched carefully as she worked on my face, hoping that I could replicate what she was doing later. At least the lip gloss didn’t look too hard to do, and the lavender color looked good with my coloring. As she worked, she explained what she was doing, why, and how it would enhance my looks. She also encouraged me to practice on my own and to learn from the dancers at the club.

When I was done, I noticed that Jessica had had her nails and makeup done as well and had a pink makeup box that matched my own. She had wanted us to still match, well other than our clothes, and had altered her hair length and style to match mine. She had also had her stylist do her nails and makeup the same as well while I was getting worked on. Unlike Melody, who could alter her form to look like anyone or anything and even emulate makeup, Jessica could only change her physical appearance and, like me, had to get that sort of thing done just like the normies. I was a little pissed that she didn’t have to go through any pain to get piercings though, she just created a hole in her navel and slipped her new adornment in with no discomfort.

By the time we left Shear Bliss, it was time for lunch, but I was really happy with my appearance and since Jess and I still matched, except for our clothes, we were getting a lot of attention as we walked into the nearest food court. Since Melody didn’t want us to separate, we all got our lunches from Subway, it was easier than waiting through four different lineups and we could each find something that appealed to us and worked with our diets. I really enjoyed my fully loaded grilled chicken sub and iced tea, though I could barely sit still being around so many people.

After lunch, the real shopping got started. First, we went to a large pharmacy, where Rhissa insisted that I fill my new birth control prescription. Jessica, of course, asked about getting me condoms as well once she found out about my new prescription, but Rhissa merely shook her head and smiled as she informed us, “We get condoms in bulk at the club and they’re not the standard type, so they don’t bother our allergies. I can show Crystal where to grab some for her purse and her room.”

With that, we moved on to other necessities that my sister had in mind, getting enough for Melody, Jessica, and me. Shampoos, conditioners, body wash, loofas, brushes, combs, lotions, creams, toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, hair ties, scrunchies, and a bunch of other stuff that I would never have thought of for my new daily beauty regimen, all found their way into the cart. My sister and Rhissa were shopping machines and seemed to know a lot more about this kind of stuff, and what was allergy-safe, than Melody or I did. We just went along with it and followed along, holding hands.

I cringed a bit as we got to the tampons, panty-liners, and such, especially since Jess and Rhiss made a point of making certain that I knew what brands wouldn’t cause an allergic reaction in us. It was bad enough thinking about actually needing those products, but the thought of putting a tampon inside myself, especially one that may cause an allergic reaction, was certainly cringe-worthy. I might be comfortable with my body and starting to get more comfortable with the idea of sex, but that was not something that I was looking forward to.

I was already tired, and we hadn’t even gone shopping for clothes yet. That was soon to be rectified though as Rhissa led us to her favorite clothing and shoe stores for Paranormals. The first of those was a clothing store geared toward Paranormal teens called Cloud Nine. The owner, Braedan, was an actual Angel, with big white feathery wings and everything. He was also the most handsome man I had ever met; muscular with a handsome face, square jaw, shoulder-length blond hair, and these intense cornflower blue eyes that a girl could get lost in. I know this because I did.

“Down, Crystal, he’s married,” Rhissa told me with a sigh as I bit my lip, tightened my thighs together, and tried very hard not to throw myself at him like some lovesick schoolgirl.

“He’s not that good-looking,” Melody said with a disgusted snort. “And he’s an Angel, they’re almost all self-righteous dickheads.” Awww, she was jealous. I took all that desire that I was feeling and leaned over to kiss the half-Demon passionately enough that we started going at it pretty hot and heavy. I was really turned on when we were interrupted by a polite cough. Oh well, I needed new panties anyway.

Unfortunately, they didn’t sell undergarments so that was going to have to wait. What they did sell was comfortable everyday clothes, most of which were made from natural fibers and dyes, and Braedan also magically altered clothes and other things. For a reasonable fee, he was able to alter the color of Jessica’s contacts to match my eye color and modify the leather jacket that Jess had gotten for me as Seth while we looked at clothes. When he was finished, the jacket was no longer too big, tight in the chest, long in the sleeves, or loose in other places. It felt thicker and sturdier and had a feminine cut that hugged my figure while keeping the badass biker look.

I was pretty happy by the time we finished there. Not only could I keep the jacket from Jess and have it fit properly, but Jess and I had gotten several pairs of jeans in various styles that wouldn’t bother our allergies and some nice casual tops and skirts as well. We could even match in a few of the combinations if we wanted to do the twin thing and fuck with people. We planned to get several more similar outfits and dresses for that purpose during our shopping trip. I blame Jess, it was her idea, the mischievous little bunny.

We did some major damage to Pandora’s gold card throughout the afternoon as we went to each of Rhissa’s favorite stores and attempted to get a good start on building new wardrobes for Jess, Melody, and me. We went to some of the normie stores as well for simple things, like accessories and our new cell phones. We had also found a nice black leather purse that went well with my jacket and a pair of black leather knee-high boots with a two-inch heel that fastened with a series of steel buckles in front. I wouldn’t say that they were comfortable since wearing anything was giving me major anxiety but at least wearing them didn’t hurt my feet as we continued our trek through the mall.

Melody was fairly easy to shop for since she preferred comfort and didn’t have our allergy problems, but even Jess and I were finding a lot that would look good on us and be comfortable for us to wear. Rhissa was a big help too and steered us toward some of the sexier stuff that she couldn’t wear because she had a tail to hide. She shared my opinion that if I was going to be stuck being uncomfortable wearing clothes anyway, I may as well look good.

Looking at lingerie was a bit awkward for me at first, but not for the reason that you might think. I was perfectly fine with my body, and I had no issues showing off my selections for the others to ask their opinions since I’d much rather be naked. It was as I caught Melody staring at me in a skimpy and sexy silk and lace lavender bra and panty set that I realized that everything that I had chosen was meant to be seen in rather than covered up. I didn’t want anything plain and functional if I was going to be forced to wear undergarments, I was vain enough to want to show off.

I was still silently considering the ramifications of that realization as we entered Rabbit’s Foot, the last of the stores that Rhissa wanted to hit. It was the only Paranormal shoe store in the mall, and we still needed to get proper footwear. “Looks like your kind of store, Jess,” I teased my sister as we entered.

“Actually, it probably is,” Rhissa offered as Jessica blew me a raspberry. “This store is owned by a Púca family and, as the name suggests, they’re rabbits.”

We were greeted by a raven-haired woman with black rabbit ears and golden eyes. She was wearing a black velvet dress and she looked to be in her mid-twenties, though I suspected that she was likely quite a bit older. Rhissa introduced her as Sandra, the owner of the store. She seemed happy to meet another Púca, especially after hearing that she was Tiffani’s kid. It seemed that my mom and Pandora had a really good reputation among other local Paranormal business owners, which was a little weird to me since they run a strip club/whore house.

“Tiffani never mentioned having any daughters, especially twins. How old are you girls?” Sandra asked with a friendly smile.

“We’re almost eighteen, but we’ve lived with our dad since they divorced when we were little,” Jessica smoothly explained. “They didn’t want us exposed to her lifestyle until we were old enough to understand. Dad died recently so we came to live with Mom, at least until we finish school. We lost almost everything in the fire, so Mom sent us and Melody out with Rhissa to get new clothes and other necessities.”

“Will you be going to St. Michelle’s then?” Sandra inquired. “All four of my daughters went there and the shapeshifting teacher there is excellent. My niece will be attending there in January as well since she’s staying with us for the foreseeable future.”

My sister and I looked at one another, shrugged, and then spoke as one, “Yeah, that’s what we were told.”

The elder Púca broke into a smile. “I’ll have to introduce you all then. Rose! Could you come out here, please? There are some girls here that I’d like you to meet!”

“Okay, Aunt Sandy! I’m coming!” we heard from the back of the store. A moment later a very pretty girl appeared from the back of the store. She was close to our age with a strong resemblance to Sandra, including her long black hair, golden eyes, and bunny features.

As soon as she was within conversational distance, Sandra began to make the introductions. While she was doing that though, both Rose and Jessica were sniffing the air and a baleful glare suddenly passed between them. “Rose?! I knew that you weren’t a normal bunny, you scene-stealing hack!”

“Jingles?! And here I thought you were just a dumb bunny, you certainly acted like one. I would have thought you’d be happy to have me out of the competition and beating you for all the good roles, but now you’re stalking me?!”

“Acting is the keyword there, unlike you, I can play a role! Why in the hell would I want to stalk you, you bitch?! I’m only here because our dad died, and we were sent to live with our mom! If I knew that you were going to be living anywhere in this city, I would have preferred to be homeless!” Jess snapped right back at her.

“I hate you!”

“Oh yeah?! Well, I hate you more!”

“Nobody could ever hate someone as much as I hate you!”

We all stared in a mix of confusion and shock, and the pair seemed to have forgotten about the rest of us as they shouted back and forth, their faces flushed bright red. I was just about to intervene and try to break them up or cool them off when Rose reached out for Jess. Instead of trying to punch her lights out like I had been half-expecting though, she surprised us all by planting a huge kiss on her. “I would have done that sooner if I knew that you weren’t just a dumb bunny,” Rose said breathily when she broke their lip lock. “Oh God, are you as turned on as I am right now?”

Jessica’s emotions were written all over her face for anyone who knew her well enough to read them. She was angry, confused, worried, and indeed very turned on. “More,” she replied, her breath catching in her throat and making it come out almost like a moan. Then they started the first period in a serious game of tonsil hockey, their hands roaming over one another’s thankfully still-clothed bodies. And she accused me of sounding like a porno earlier?

“Girls! Break it up, please!” Sandra said sternly in an attempt to interrupt them.

“Yes! For God’s sake, think of the horny Nymph in the room!” Watching them was turning me on even more than I was before, and that disturbed me greatly since my sister was one of the participants. “No! Bad Nymph! She’s your sister! Well, she isn’t actually blood-related… Nope! Not going there! Sister! Eww!”

It wasn’t until everyone had turned to look at me that I realized that I had said that first part out loud, very loud. I once again turned a bright shade of Crystal Red ^TM, yup I’m totally trademarking that color, I use it often enough. Seeing all those eyes on my very bright face I turned around to explore the store further and muttered, “I’m gonna go look at shoes, that’s why we’re supposed to be here.”

I had gotten to the shelves near the back of the store, and I was looking at a pair of pink and blue canvas sneakers and testing them for a possible allergic reaction when Melody approached, placed a hand gently on my shoulder, and then moved that arm around my waist as she asked, “What’s the problem, Crystal? Rhissa thought that you might be overwhelmed after seeing that and was going to come to talk to you, but I offered to come instead. You’ve been controlling yourself pretty well until now. I can understand being horny after watching that, I was too, but something has you upset.”

“That was my sister getting her tonsils sucked,” I said as if that answered everything.

“Jealous?” the half-Demon inquired. “That was some kiss, I thought that they were going to have angry lesbian bunny hate-sex right there on the floor until they were interrupted, though I suppose there is still time, and they could have killed one other instead. I’m always happy to help you out if you need a little sugar of your own though.”

“I’m not jealous!” I snapped, though her offer had me thinking a moment before shaking my head. “As much as I would really like to make out with you right now, I might not be able to stop myself once we got started. She’s my sister, I shouldn’t have been turned on by watching that… and she never told me that she was into girls.”

Melody sighed, pulling me toward her to look me in the eyes. “Crystal, you’re a Nymph so seeing anyone going at it hot and heavy is going to push your buttons, we all understand that. As for your sister, as much as you look identical now and are getting into the whole twin thing, you’re not really twins. I can tell that you’re very close, but you were her brother, and she probably wasn’t ready to share that with you yet, if she even realized it herself. For all we know, she could have been in denial about the whole thing. If that’s the case she’s going to be pretty shaken up and she’ll need you.”

Shit. As far as I knew Jess had never even been kissed before, like me she had zero experience with this kind of stuff. Most of our time growing up had been spent together, we weren’t just siblings but best friends, and with the whole Paranormal thing and being homeschooled we never really had anyone else but Dad and one another. Sure, we knew a few other kids around the apartment complex but they were normies and we never got too close so they wouldn’t figure out the family secret.

I hugged the half-Demon, breathing in her scent as I wanted to do so much more than just that. “Thanks, Melody. Can I maybe get a raincheck on that whole making-out thing? Like later tonight, in the privacy of my room?”

“That sounds nice… if you’re… sure.” Her eyes had gone wide, and I could swear that she was trying not to grin as she nodded and gave her reply in a husky near-whisper.

I took several deep breaths to try to calm myself down and somewhat cool the damp heat between my legs and then made my way purposefully to where Jess was looking at shoes with Rhissa and Rose while Sandra was off helping another customer. Both Rose and Jess looked pretty awkward now that they had calmed down and were avoiding any talk about anything but footwear. I could taste the sexual tension in the air. “You,” I said pointing to Rose. “The three of us need to talk, is there someplace we can do that privately?”

Reluctantly, Rose led us to the supply room and closed the door behind us. As soon as the door was closed, Rose looked at the floor and muttered, “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know what could have possessed me to kiss her of all people.”

“Well, it’s not like I wanted you checking my dental work, Bitch,” Jessica shot back unconvincingly.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Really? You’re both actresses and that’s the best you’ve got? Drop the act, I’m a Nymph, and sexual tension is my second language. If you won’t admit it to me, at least admit it to yourselves. I don’t give a shit if you two want to suck face or fuck like bunnies all night long if it makes my sister happy. You are a problem though,” I said, focusing on Rose.

“Wha…” Rose started to ask in confusion.

I cut her off, giving her a very serious look. “Nobody can know that we were from Vancouver. If anyone asks, we’re from Calgary and you met Jess when she flew into Vancouver for a few days to audition for a role. Our lives depend on this, and yours may too if the wrong people find out and connect Jessica to me; these people don’t like loose ends and neither does our aunt. Now, you have two choices. You can play dumb about knowing my sister when we start school and keep looking over your shoulder, or we can tell you a story and you swear to take the secret to your grave, hopefully far into the future.”

Rose chose number two, but that didn’t surprise me since she had been curious from the moment I had asked for privacy. Once we had finished our story, Rose was actually sympathetic about the loss of our dad and everything that we had been through since. She also told us a bit about herself, though I thought that might be because she was trying to see if she and Jess could have any common ground besides mutual dislike, jealousy, and attraction for one another.

She hadn’t even wanted to be an actress, animal, or otherwise. Her mother was one of those intense moms who had her in beauty contests and such since she could walk, pressuring her to become a model and actress when she grew up. When puberty hit and she Manifested, her normie mother was surprised and her father had to come clean about what he and Rose were. She started pushing Rose into the bunny roles after that, saying that she was going to be an actress one way or another.

Rose resented being forced into her acting career and grew to resent the animals she worked with too, especially Jessica, who had beat her out for the role of Jingles in The Peels. Her mother hadn’t been happy about her losing to a ‘dumb bunny’ at all. Now her parents were in the midst of a messy divorce and Rose’s aunt had offered to take her in so she wouldn’t be caught in the middle, and so she could get out from under her mother’s thumb.

I kind of felt for her, and even Jessica had to admit that she could understand where Rose was coming from. She had gotten just as pissed about losing the slasher flick to Rose and the only one pressuring her had been herself. In the end, a truce was called, phone numbers were exchanged, and we were able to get back to what was truly important, shopping for shoes.

Melody got mostly practical footwear; a pair of boots, sneakers, and a couple of pairs of heels in case she ever decided to wear one of the pair of sexy dresses that Rhissa had convinced her to buy. Jess got a pair of canvas running shoes, some black leather ankle boots that were warm enough for winter, and various types and colors of heels. Since Jess and Rhissa knew more about what looked good than me I let them and Rose pick out stuff for me, I was just too damn tired.

I did get those sneakers that I had been looking at earlier, but I was already wearing those nice new boots that went so well with my jacket and my feet wouldn’t get cold, so I didn’t really need winter boots, though there was a cute pair of tan ankle boots that I liked. Most of my shoes ended up being near duplicates of Jess’s though, in case we decided to do the whole dressing alike thing. By the time we were out of the crowded mall and back on our way home for dinner, I was exhausted, relieved to be away from all those people, and having trouble keeping my hands off Melody as we shared the back seat.