San Francisco by Night
EnderI Lyich
Ender's house, his freehold was originally bought by his late
grandaunt for 70,000 dollars for a property with 2,500 sq. feet. She bought it when she
married in 1949, 50 years ago, she was 25 at the time. Her name was Mrs. Eloise Ilyich
Cole, she was Ender's Grandfather's sister. She was married to Mr. Charles Cole, she had
five children: Lucy, Edmund, Peter, Polly and Susan, one of which died of Polio, Edmund at
the age of ten. To Ender: Aunt Lucy, Uncle Peter, Aunt Polly and Aunt Susan. Grantaunt
Eloise's family grew up and lived in San Francisco, Eloise was also Ender's Godmother and
very close to him.
Ender went up in a couple of summers to visit Grandaunt Eloise in her home, she was that
sort of lady who would make the most wonderful baked goods: cookies, cakes, pancakes,
tarts and buns. While originally Grandaunt Eloise was of the Russian Eastern Orthodoxy,
she converted into become a very devout Catholic like her husband. She had a beautiful
church dress, she wore it every other Sunday, it was a crisp, ironed white with a pastel
blue belt and a small little white hat, gloves and purse to go along with it, it was like
a gown of snow. Grandaunt Eloise had a raspy but kind and inviting voice. She belonged to
a club known as the MIMS named after a legendary old woman known as Miriam Wilkins who was
known as the super mom, involved in every charity event, PTA event, Christmas, Easter,
Proms, Dances, Socials, bake-offs, Bake Sales and almost every charity organisation out
there. Miriam had a tea party every week were she would gather her cult of loyal followers
and emulators into one area and talk about everything from their children to church.
Grandaunt Eloise wore square like pink spectacles and old lady dresses. She had the weight
and the problems associated with her age too. Her hair was blond and fading to white. She
was the sort of lady that took care of people and did everything she could to be as
considerate as possible and never complained she did things out of love. She would take
out the trash, clean up everything, feed you, clean you, walk you and protect you and
would never ask for a thing. All she would ask for is a little good behaviour and give you
anything in her power and within reason. She was the sort of woman who if you wanted
cakes, she'd have one all iced, baked and layered the very next day. She would knit you a
sweater, take you grocery shopping, she was very complying too, which was also her
weakness. Grandaunt Eloise never really talked back or stood up for herself, if you
insulted her, she would turn the other cheek and teach you better, but she wasn't stupid
though. Grandaunt Eloise was very observant of things, she'd know if you were doing
something bad upstairs even if she was downstairs in the kitchen and yell at you.
Grandaunt Eloise never worked either, not worked as today's modern professionals would
say, she didn't earn income, she didn't go to a six day job working eight hours a day she
found that her job was at the home. That her skills and her nature were best suited to
raise wonderful children and manage a household.
And she lived in her house with her husband, watched her children grow up and move out. In
1995, Charles died of a heart attack at the age of the seventy-one. The MIMS comforted
Grandaunt Eloise, who that year fell ill of leukaemia and died in 1998. Eloise died in
peace, without the painful medications and chemotherapy, her family and friends and the
MIMs all with her. Eloise left her home, her freehold to Ender as her last act as a
Godmother, her children were already well established so she decided to leave her home to
her godchild who was young and new to the world.
Eloise's lawyer asked Ender if he wanted to sell the home, which had an estimated value of
somewhere between 700,000 to 800,000 dollars. Ender declined, the house had too many
memories and value for Eloise's children and family and friends. The total value for
property tax was 115,124 dollars and 23 cents, the yearly property tax for this year being
1,726 dollars and 86 cents, next year increasing the total value by 1% and taking 1.5% of
that and so on. It was a very good deal for it prevented Ender from going off and buying a
dorm, which no doubt would be more expensive than 1,726 dollars each year. Ender reserved
144 dollars each month to cover the property tax.
* * *
He was only taken into the sweet roses of Leanhaun's bosom at his Chrysalis. He remembered
it sitting, watching the last football game of his senior year in high school, the Bulls
versus the Dragons. He was munching on a hot dog and soda, watching.
Ender had a terrible headache. He was so excited, he had just inherited a house from his
grandmother in Berkeley, was going to college, was leaving home, finally had somewhat true
independence, would get a job soon and would have his own living space. Everything was
falling into place the summation of all those 12 grades of hard work 12 years of work
finally it was finished. God, it was over. What bliss, what serene pleasure, no more
homework, no more 8 hours a day of mindless, tedious hours of work. Done. Ender was free,
an absence of all those droning hours, wasted. Ender supposed that this elation was what
triggered his Chrysalis.
The night air over the football field was cool and refreshing and pulsating with the hopes
and dreams of so many. Next week, 500 souls would prance in a red gown and funny square
shaped hat and would walk and listen to each of their names being recited in alphabetical
order, the parents would sit in white seats far off in their business suits with their
hand-held camcorders and cameras, while watching their children, the summation of their
dreams walking proudly forward and then it would be a glorious summer of liberation. 500
souls that maintained a G.P.A above 2.0, that didn't commit suicide, that weren't
seriously addicted to drugs, that didn't die in the gun fire of a mad goth child with 30
Calibre Machine Guns or Mini-Uzies, that didn't give birth to a child and drop out of
school, and they were those that survived high school.
People were excited, they had their whole lives, their whole futures ahead of them. Some
were high school sweethearts, some were the artistic loners, some were goths and some were
the chemistry geeks but that didn't matter. Everyone would do something, and they all
hoped it would end up grand and nice. Ender himself was so excited, he was going to UC
Berkeley in the coming fall; an university known for it's long history of idealism and
artistry and one of the best in his area other than Stanford, which he couldn't afford.
Although lately, Ender was seeing things: Joe the varsity football jock suddenly looked
like a tall blue guy with tiny horns, Jane the all-star track runner had horns and furry
legs, Tiffany, every 14 year old's wet dream, looked more beautiful than ever a inhuman
beauty, some of the chemist geeks suddenly had chalk white faces decorated with a plethora
of make-up and Tony a big Native American activist suddenly started wearing traditional
Native American clothing. Voices, people's thoughts and dreams manifested in Ender's mind.
Ender's Dream Dance was not as traumatic as others, he had already well acquainted and
knew much about the occult, but when it happened it was still a surprise. A group of
Nervosa grew out of his dreams though, the Sleep-walkers, a group of authoritative men and
women who were capable of using dark redes to make anyone look like a failure. Ender
barely was cognisant of the football game and was washed in pulsating, throbbing, growing
waves of glamour. Ender could not believe his own eyes, a dark beam of light, rather a
long line of the colour black descended from the sky and held him tight in a near feverish
madness. It was painful and beautiful all at once, as if someone had given you a horrible
truth yet that truth reassured your deepest thoughts in your mind. Black electricity and
translucent glass white spiders crawled all over him, giving him life. Ten-Thousand
lifetimes flooded his mind, the pain, the joy, the good and the bad all at once;
remembering everything although he couldn't remember any aspect of that later.
Ender passed out and fell, the experience was too much for him. The doctors said that he
went into a coma for a few days, the cause was low blood sugar and/or lack of oxygen or
something a rather. When he woke up this handsome, tall, African man was over him.
"They call me Blade," he said quietly and smiling, he was wearing Islamic robes
and streets clothes both at once and he smelled of old summer nights. "I have kept
the others away from you for I know you are one of us and of the Unseelie Court."
Ender briefly remembered the "Unseelie Court" mentioned to him before, déjà
vu, perhaps in a history class… no, it was before that.
Blade in fact had kept the Seelie Kithian away from him and introduced him to the Unseelie
Court of Oakland. Blade convinced Ender's parents to send him on a trip to Ireland,
Hibernia, to celebrate his graduation from High School. The place that was once called
Innis Fodhla, or the Isle of Destiny. Ender's parents consented and bought a business
class ticket to Ireland. Blade arranged for Ender to be fostered by a pooka, who told
Ender his name was Donavon Vitale who in turn quickly lost interest in Ender and quickly
shoved him into the direction of Jamie Macleod and Duchess Lenore.
When Ender first arrived in Ireland he had already rented out a small cottage in Munster
on the outskirts of Cork. He was greeted by the Unseelie Pooka who told Ender to call him
Donavon Vitale, whether that was his real name or not, Ender did not ask. Donavon was a
badger pooka, with black and white fur and long whiskers. Donavon had a long, narrow,
large nose with black sparkling beady eyes, he wore a "Fighting Irish" I.R.A.
t-shirt with "Kiss me Arse" written in the back, brown corduroys and a pair of
old boots. He quickly drove Ender to his cottage, walked him around the town got a few
groceries and left.
In Hibernia, the ancient glamour still crackled through the air in the form of a sweet fae
lullaby. The countryside was a fresh smeared green with a few assorted wildflowers and
rocks now and again. Ender visited the old churches, the beach and the old sites of fae
power.
He got a call two weeks later from Donavon saying that "they should go out for a
night on the town", Ender agreed and they ended up in a dirty old pub with two Sidhe
sitting in the corner, Duchess Lenore and Jamie Macloed a.k.a Jamie O' Dreams.
Ender sat down to talk with them, they were so beautiful and wonderful to talk to, and
they were very pleasant. Before Ender knew it, Donavon had vanished as was nowhere to be
seen so he guessed that he would talk to the two Sidhe and maybe they'd take him home.
Ender had a couple of drinks.
Over time, Ender completely received no news of Donavon but he frequently received the two
Sidhe as guests and they showed him all around Hibernia. He thought everything he was
teaching them was standard teaching for the fae: the importance of beauty, how to rhapsody
(after all, the fae had given mortals the ability to dream in the first place, why not
take it away, the glamour was so rich), high society, the story of Leanhaun and House Liam
and the oath he swore.
The specifics are details for another story. In retrospect, Ender does not know why he was
taken into House Leanhaun although he has been on its more enthusiastic proponents and
loyal followers. He believes in the great ritual and many of Leanhaun's beliefs. He has
not done anything significant for the House yet, but still Leanhaun introduced him to fae
society and the deplorable Gwydion, they taught him, raised him, grew him and for what
reasons Ender does not know. Why him and not a Sidhe? Perhaps it was because they knew he
would love House Leanhaun and embrace it truly.
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