Read Stiltskin (Andrew Buckley) for Free Online

starting to disturb me.”
    Robert pulled himself up into a sitting position.
    “You can stop slapping me now, I’m awake.”
    “Oh, right,” said Lily.
    Robert pulled a blue fluffy blanket from the couch and covered himself appropriately.
    “You need to get dressed,” said Lily. “We really have to get moving before he gets too far away.”
    “Look, it’s been a really weird and disappointing day and all I want is a bath and several hours’ sleep. If there’s any chance of you just leaving and taking your glowing insect with you, that’d be great.”
    “Don’t you care that a Dwarf randomly appeared in your bathtub talking about your father about whom you have absolutely no knowledge?”
    “I’m used to weird things happening to me, really, it’s nothing new. If he comes back, I can call you.”
    “Or how about the fact you just got knocked out by a Fairy?”
    “Well, yes, that was strange,” admitted Robert, “but honestly, I just want to be left alone.”
    Lily’s anger was starting to get the better of her, the heat rising to her face as she spoke. “It’s a hard thing to explain all in one shot so I’m not even going to try but you have to come with me. Dwarves don’t show up in people’s bathtubs just for the hell of it so you need to get some clothes on and come with me.”
    “Thanks but I’ll pass.”
    “I can start slapping you again, if you like?”
    Robert’s shoulders sagged dejectedly. “I’ll go get dressed.”

    Against its better judgment, the rain had become a light drizzle and the sky grew darker as Robert Darkly, dressed in jeans and a sweater, stepped out of his apartment building with Lily close behind.
    “So where are you taking me?” asked Robert.
    “We need to go to the Exchange. It’s the first place the Dwarf will head, and maybe we’ll get lucky and arrive there before he does. We’ll need to get you a passport while we’re there, too.”
    “Ya know, it’s bizarre but I understood maybe ten percent of what you just said,” replied Robert.
    “You’re an accountant, aren’t you?”
    “Well, yes, but…”
    “Only accountants speak in percentages.”
    “In my defence, I’m not a very good accountant.”
    Lily crossed the street and Robert obediently followed.
    “We’re going to need a cab.”
    “Why don’t we just take your car?” asked Robert.
    “Don’t know how to drive.” Lily stopped at the corner and whistled for a cab parked across the street.
    Robert looked at Lily, really for the first time since he put on some clothes. It’s amazing, the way perception shifts from when you’re wearing clothes as opposed to being stark naked and getting hit with your own frying pan. When Lily had kicked open his door she had been, well, beautiful. Now as she stood in the pouring rain she looked like the most beautiful and strange thing he’d ever seen. Her hair had seemed black at first but now he could see streaks of auburn, and her eyes had been dark brown but in the natural light outside they seemed almost amber and twinkled ominously. She was at least a foot shorter than Robert was, but if someone was to look at the pair they would instantly recognize who was in charge, and it wasn’t Robert.
    Possibly the strangest thing about Lily was the way that the rain didn’t seem to touch her. Robert’s sweater was already covered with a thin sheen of classic London rain. London rain was the sort of water that even if someone found themselves stranded in the middle of the Sahara Desert on the hottest day of the year with no clothes and a sunburn with their camel lying dead next to them, even then they wouldn’t even consider drinking it for fear of illness and instantaneous diarrhea.
    Lily was almost completely dry. It wasn’t that the rain wasn’t falling on her but rather it chose to ignore her completely.
    “Stop staring at me, it’s creepy,” said Lily suddenly and fixed him with those amber eyes.
    Yes, definitely amber. “Sorry, it’s