Autumn Rose

Author's Note: This is my entry for the 2019 Halloween story contest, inspired by the Scottish Ballad Tam Lin. I hope you enjoy it. Please vote! Thanks for reading.

***

At the end of seven years

She pays a tithe to Hell

I so fair and full of flesh

I fear it be myself

-

As the sun set, Maggie sat on a stone bench that was tilting to one side and thumbed through her stack of parchment paper featuring the new grave rubbings she had gathered that evening. She knew she needed to be on her way to her sister's place, but she could not resist the small family cemetery lurking behind the old abandoned church at the eastern junction of US-6 and OH-66. She had been fascinated and curious about it ever since she first noticed it during a drive from her place in Michigan to her sister's home in Indiana. On that glorious September Friday, she finally had a chance to take a look and satisfy her curiosity.

The plot was tucked back in the trees a good mile from the highway, identifiable as a cemetery only by a wrought iron fence that surrounded it and the mausoleum that dominated the space. She had parked her car near the church and hiked back to the graveyard along a gravel path overgrown with weeds. There was a rose hedge, adorned with white flowers, growing along the iron fence and Maggie couldn't resist plucking a late summer blossom and tucking it in her wavy maple-blonde hair. She looked around her at the many old gray headstones sticking out of the ground like jagged teeth in the tall dry grass. She spotted several beautifully carved headstones and set to work. Hours later, she sighed in satisfaction at the rubbings of roses, beautiful Celtic knots and crosses, and various animals she had gathered. She used her cell phone to take a final picture of the weathered mausoleum with the single word "LINDSEY" in block letters carved deep into the cap stone, too high up for her to do a rubbing. She then stood from her perch on the bench to make the long trek back to her car in the rapidly deepening twilight, using her cell phone as a light to illuminate the ground along her way. She startled at the loud hoot of an owl overhead and laughed at her nervousness. She always enjoyed the quiet stillness of cemeteries during the day, but even she couldn't ignore the chill of anxiety as night fell.

She walked faster through the tall grass when she thought she saw a white horse in the darkness among the trees. Her heart pounded rapidly as she trotted towards her waiting car. She knew she was trespassing and worried that the property owner might try to confront her. It was clear that no one had bothered to maintain the cemetery for years, but that didn't mean the property owner wouldn't mind her snooping. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally to her car and able to climb in. She tossed her rubbings and her phone on the passenger seat and was pulling away from the church in a matter of moments.

By the time it was full dark and the full Harvest Moon was rising in the east, Maggie was back on her way on US-6 heading west. She was running late and so was probably driving faster than she should have been, even considering it was a beautiful night. At least it was until she hit a dense fog bank. Her mind told her there was a... horse? In the road in front of her and she slammed on the brakes instinctively. Her tires lost grip on the road and her car spun around once... twice... while she screamed in fear. She came to a sudden stop, facing the wrong way in the ditch on the north side of the road. Her head hit her steering wheel and she blacked out, whether for a heartbeat or many minutes, she didn't really know.

The next thing she knew she was being helped out of her car by a young man with long curly hair and wearing well-worn jeans and a flannel shirt over a white t-shirt. In the moonlight his hair appeared almost black and his eyes an indeterminate but pale color. The white stick of a sucker split his lips at the corner of his mouth. The friendliness of his worried smile was easy enough to make out.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he guided her toward what must have been his car, a white '66 Mustang hardtop in pristine condition.

"I... I think so," Maggie responded, rubbing her hand on her forehead. "I hit my head pretty hard."

"I should call you an ambulance, just in case," he said, but before he could make a move, Maggie stopped him.

"No! No, don't do that. I'm sure I just need some Tylenol or something."

He nodded and then waited for a moment, looking her up and down as though really seeing her for the first time.

"Hi, I'm Thomas," he said, thrusting out his hand toward her. "Thomas Lindsey."

"Nice to meet you, Thomas." She gripped his fingers with hers and squeezed. "I think I was just in your family's cemetery, assuming you're from around here."

"Oh, yeah? Out behind the church?"

"Yeah, that's the one.

"I'm Maggie, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you," he said, and he really did look pleased based on his broad smile. He admired her hair, her leaf green eyes, and the shape of her breasts under her forest green chambray shirtdress. He reached up his fingers to touch the rose she had tucked in her hair. "Did you get the rose in the cemetery?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded, suddenly worried about taking it. "I hope that's okay."

Maggie felt a buzzing in her body at his frank regard. She felt a growing anxiety that seemed to synchronize with the throbbing of her head. She saw that Thomas's lips were pulled back in a thin line as he looked at the rose in her hair, but then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his eyes opened back up, his face had relaxed.

"My house is just about another half-mile down the road," Thomas said, his voice soft with concern. "We can get you some aspirin and call for a tow from there."

"Oooh-kay," Maggie said, puzzled that he couldn't just use a cell phone, but her head was pounding too painfully for her to really question him.

Thomas went around to the passenger door of his car and opened it for her before motioning to her to get in. Maggie opened her mouth to protest but when her eyes met Thomas's she found herself unable to refuse him. She felt dazzled by his smile of encouragement and let him guide her to sit in his car. Her body tingled at his touch and she sighed softly when he released her elbow. She sat on the white leather seat and pulled her legs in, then he slammed the door closed before walking around to the driver's side and getting in while she was still fastening her seatbelt.

In the back of her mind she knew she should feel nervous, or at least distressed, about riding in a car with a strange man she had just met, but something about Thomas made her feel safe. Or maybe she'd hit her head harder than she realized.

He started up the car and turned on the headlights, the car's interior lighting cast a ghostly glow on his face as he turned to Maggie and smiled.

"We'll get you taken care of," he said. "You're in good hands with me."

They were only in the car for a few minutes before Thomas turned in to a gravel driveway that wound toward a small cottage nestled in a copse of tall trees. The porchlight of the house was on, moths darted around the light fixture dimmed by dirt, but there were no other signs of life.

Thomas opened the door for Maggie and motioned for her to enter in front of him. She hesitated to go into the dark room, but he eased her fear when he reached in next to the door and flipped a light on, brightening the sitting room of the tiny home. Maggie immediately noticed that the home smelled of dust and decay, although it looked clean enough. To her right was a whitewashed brick fireplace with a clock on the mantel reading a quarter after twelve midnight, which struck her as odd since it wasn't even 8 o'clock when she left the cemetery. Against the far wall sat two wingback chairs, upholstered in a flower print, with a table holding a lamp and an old black rotary phone between them. On the wall behind them were dozens of sepia tone photographs.

"Is this your grandmother's house?" Maggie asked, turning to look all around the room. Thomas shrugged but said nothing as he led her further into the house, turning on a light in the dining room to illuminate a round oak table with a lace doily in the center. He took her hand and pulled her through an archway that led to a short hallway.

"Let's get you some aspirin," Thomas said, tugging her behind him and up a flight of stairs into a tiny pink bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and pulled out a bottle, pouring two pills into his palm. He took a paper dixie cup from a dispenser and filled it with water before handing both to Maggie. She took the medicine and grimaced at the sour taste on her tongue.

"Thanks," Maggie said. Thomas just shrugged and nodded again.

His hand reached out and he brushed his hand along her face and tucked a loose lock of maple hair behind her left ear. Maggie gasped in surprise at the chill of Thomas's fingers. He cupped her chin and lifted her face to bring her eyes to his. He searched her face and then leaned in to kiss her, holding her against him. She shivered against this body in the tight space of the bathroom and he wrapped his arms around her. He tasted like hard candy; it reminded her of root beer combined with the sweet, pungent odor of freshly mown grass.

"Don't worry, beautiful. I'll take care of you," Thomas murmured before kissing her again.

Maggie suddenly felt like the room was spinning around her and she cried out as her knees buckled. Thomas caught her before she could tumble to the floor at his feet. He lifted her in his strong arms and carried her down the short hallway to a bedroom decorated in green and navy blue. He laid her on the bed and climbed in next to her.

"I'm sorry... I feel so weird... Light-headed...," Maggie whispered.

"It's just Fairie glamour," he murmured in response.

"It's what?" she asked, confused.

Rather than answer, he renewed his kisses and his hands moved to the buttons of her dress and started unbuttoning.

"No... stop...," Maggie said weakly as she tried to push Thomas away.

"Don't worry, beautiful girl; I'll not hurt you," he said earnestly. Maggie looked into his eyes and could see her reflection in the black pools of his pupils surrounded only by the thinnest ring of blue. He again set to work on unbuttoning her dress. This time she didn't protest as he pushed the fabric down her arms, leaving her lying on his bed in only matching pale green bra and panties. Thomas caressed her lips with his own and then nipped the delicate skin of her neck, his mouth traveling along her body then sucking on a nipple through the thin fabric of her bra.

"Are you ready for me, Maggie?" he asked, his hot breath against her skin.

"Wha...? I don't..." Maggie half-heartedly tried to push Thomas away again, but soon her protests were lost in her body's reaction to his caresses.

Thomas unhooked her bra and pulled it down her arms. He kissed and massaged her breasts, licking and nibbling on her nipples, pinching them to bring them to hard peaks in the cool air of the bedroom. Maggie moaned and then hissed in pain as she felt Thomas suck hard on the soft, sensitive skin of the underside of her breast and then bite down, marking her.

"This is just a dream... Isn't it?" she murmured, her hands running through Thomas's loose curls at the back of his head.

"Your hair is so soft," she moaned dreamily, her eyelids fluttering closed.

"Your skin is so beautiful. So pale and perfect. I'm going to mark you as mine." Thomas kissed his way down her body, murmuring his appreciation against her skin. He nipped, bit, and drew her skin into his mouth, leaving a trail of red marks from her breasts to her belly button before hooking his fingers around her panties and tugging them down her legs and off.

He stepped back to look at her, his eyes drinking her in. He shrugged off his flannel shirt and then reached over his head to grab his t-shirt and pulled it off over his head. Maggie's eyes roamed over his bare torso. She reached out her hands to touch the dusting of dark hair that formed a tee, crossing his chest and then disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. He let her unbutton and then unzip his jeans. He pushed them down his hips, revealing his erection and that he wore no underwear.

Thomas joined Maggie in his bed, spreading her thighs with his pale hands, opening her wide to him. He fell on her with his mouth. He nipped and sucked at the skin of her inner thighs, leaving his marks behind as she hissed in pain and moaned her desire, unconsciously rocking her hips to encourage him. He drew her lips apart with his fingers and licked her with the flat of his tongue before fastening his mouth over her opening and thrusting his tongue deep inside her.

"OH MY GOD!" Maggie shouted, her fingernails bit into Thomas's shoulders as he feasted on her.

"You taste like heaven," Thomas growled. He moved his mouth up to her clitoris and began tapping it with his tongue while thrusting his middle finger in and out of her tight wetness.

"Oh, please, oh please, OH PLEASE!" Maggie's back arched and she shuddered through an orgasm that left Thomas's face and hand drenched with her moisture.

Before her climax ended, before she could even register what was happening, Thomas reared back onto his knees, pulled her towards him by her hips, and then surged forward, ramming himself hard and deep into her core. Maggie hissed in pain.

"Don't worry," Thomas soothed as tears rolled down Maggie's cheeks. "It'll only hurt for a bit." He alternated between pumping in and out of her slow and deep and then fast and shallow and then slow and deep again until her pained whimpers turned into moans and gasps of pleasure.

"Such a beautiful girl," Thomas murmured to himself as he fucked her hard. He lifted her legs up to his shoulders and she cried out again at the deeper penetration he achieved. He slammed himself into her again and again, each thrust harder and deeper than the last. Maggie cried out as she shattered with another orgasm. Thomas roared out as he buried himself deep inside her and released his hot seed; she felt his cock jerk and twitch inside her several times before he finally let out a soft sigh and collapsed on the bed next to her.

Maggie tried to catch her breath. As her mind started to clear away the fog of Fairie glamour and she realized what had happened to her, she began to cry. Thomas gathered her into his arms, murmuring soft endearments, but she tried to push him away. He would not release her, crooning softly to her while he peppered her with kisses until she relaxed in his arms.

"Sweet, sweet Maggie," he chanted as he soothed her panic, "you give me hope again." Thomas skimmed his palms over Maggie's skin, gently petting her until she nuzzled against him. They laid together, wrapped up in each other.

"What happened?" Maggie asked quietly. "I don't even know you."

"No, but the moment I saw you in my family's cemetery, I knew you were the girl for me."

"You...? You saw me at the cemetery?"

"You plucked a flower," he said, running his fingers through her silky hair.

"Yes, but... why does that matter?" she cupped his chin in her palm as she asked.

"It's Fairie magic."

"And...?" Maggie understood in the back of her mind that attributing anything to 'Fairie Magic' was insane, but she was unable to verbalize that while wrapped in Thomas's arms.

"That's it. That's all there is to it," Thomas said confidently as he pushed up to his knees and grabbed Maggie by the hips. "You plucked an autumn rose and I pulled you to me."

He turned her onto her stomach and climbed behind her, lifting her ass by her hips and again slid into her. Maggie gasped and tossed her head back, thrusting back against him.

"Such a tight, tight pussy. Fucking tight!" he grunted as he sawed in and out of her.

Maggie felt another climax build up and crash over her. She cried out as Thomas pounded her, her sex so sensitive that each of his thrusts sent her body into another trembling orgasm.

"Whit th' hell ur ye daein', my Tamlin?" A woman stood in the doorway, her red hair long and flowing, her eyes pale and hot with fury, a diamond crown on her head.

Thomas didn't reply. He just continued to to fuck Maggie roughly, driving her body down into the matress, his fingers bruising the soft skin of her hips as he held her.

Through the haze of her ongoing orgasm, Maggie thought she saw the room around them fade to be replaced by a far more opulent one, the cotton bedding replaced by silk, the simple bed replaced by an elegantly carved four-poster. She felt Thomas grip her hair and pull her onto his driving cock and then moan as he shot another load of cum deep into her just as the red-haired woman reached for him and pulled him off of her.

"I'm not your Tamlin, Your Majesty," he growled, his chest heaving with his exertion.

Maggie stirred on the bed, moaning, rivulets of Thomas's creamy cum running out of her pussy.

"You dared to bring a mortal maiden here? To fuck? What are you playing at, Thomas Lindsey?"

"I'm not playing at anything. I saw her, I wanted her, so I took her.

"You should understand that better than anyone," he concluded bitterly. "I took her just like you took me."

"Aye. But she cannae stay. Ye cannae keep her, my Tamlin."

"So send her back," he said, shrugging and feigning indifference.

Maggie looked up at the woman, her green eyes full of fear.

"Return from whence ye cam," the woman said and clapped her hands once.

Maggie closed her eyes against a wave of nausea and her vision went black.

***

"Are you okay?"

"Fairie magic...?" Maggie grumbled then moaned in pain and tried to lift her hand to shield her eyes from the bright light streaming through the side window of her car. Her fingers caught in the rose she'd tucked in her hair, pulling it out. She looked at it in confusion before placing it gently on the seat next to her.

"Don't worry, miss. I already called for an ambulance and a tow. We'll have them take a look at you and decide whether you need a ride to the hospital."

She hurt bone deep. Her head was pounding. She was very aware of a sharp pain between her legs and an ache deep inside her body.

She looked at the clock on her dash and noticed in confusion that the time read 12:15. She shook her head and whimpered in pain. She whimpered even more when she heard the sirens and then saw the bright flashing lights of the approaching ambulance.

In a matter of moments, one of the EMTs was at the side of her car, standing in the ditch next to her door. He knocked on the window and she unlocked the door and started to open it. He pulled the door open and surveyed the damage he could see.

"I don't think she has any broken bones," he called out to his partner. "But I'd say a concussion is likely and possibly whiplash."

"I'll get the back-board and bring it over," Maggie heard the distant response. Her entire body started trembling.

"She also may be shocky..."

The two EMTs eased her out of her car and the sheriff reached into her car and switched off the ignition, pulling out the key. They carried her to a stretcher on the shoulder of the road, but before they could move her to the ambulance, the sheriff started asking her questions.

"Can I get your name, miss?"

"Sure. Maggie Woods," she said, holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Maggie. I'm Sheriff Hill.

"Can you tell me what happened, Maggie?"

"I... uh... I thought I saw something? A white horse? In the fog? I hit the brakes and lost traction. I know I spun around a couple of times... I ended up in the ditch and hit my head."