TITLE: SECRET
GENRE: YA SECRET
Typically when one is faced with a feral creature capable of snuffing out their very existence, they back up slowly and pray to whatever gods are left they're not noticed. It's arguably the smart thing to do.
Too bad I've never done the smart thing.
I cycle the bolt, chambering the bullet into my rifle. Inhale, aim, and shoot. The way Uncle Jeff showed me until it was etched into my muscle memory.
My finger hovers over the trigger as the creature shuffles into my sights, nose sniffing the air. Its skin is sagging off as if it can no longer maintain shape. The only vaguely fae-like thing about it are the pointed ears. Without them, the creature looks like a decaying corpse. A feral fae. It might as well be dead, it’s hardly living.
I squeeze the trigger before it can make out my scent, the bullet hitting a hair to the left from where I intended.
Fantasy! I was leaning towards dystopian/post-apocalyptic until the mention of fae, so maybe a dystopian fantasy?
ReplyDeleteFantasy, and agree, maybe dystopian?
ReplyDeleteContemporary Fantasy/Fantasy
ReplyDeleteThe first sign was the use of 'gods', then fae. The use of a rifle makes me think this might be urban/contemporary fantasy.
Fantasy. Has to be if it features an alliterated fairy, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteFantasy.
ReplyDeleteFeral fae.
I'm going to be the odd man out and say paranormal. Fairies for me are only fantasy if they have a fantasy world, in our world they are paranormal. Or urban fantasy. It would help to know if the setting was city or country. The gun suggests urban fantasy, but somehow the mention of the uncle has me imagining woods, even though that is not stated. I agree that there is a dystopian or apocalyptic vibe.
ReplyDeleteFantasy or Urban Fantasy. Feral fae indicates Fantasy. I'd like a little more detail about setting. The rifle makes me think we're some place rural. Also, adds a little Dystopian flavor for some reason. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteFantasy/Contemporary
ReplyDeleteThe woods, a fairy (so glad it's evil)
Fantasy/Horror. There's a feral fae. Yikes. Maybe zombie.
ReplyDeletefantasy
ReplyDeletethough at first I thought it was contemporary (until I came across 'fae')
Fantasy with horror. The fae creature which seems almost dead (zombie? or starving? - could go either way)
ReplyDeleteParanormal.
ReplyDeleteThe fae made me think fantasy, but a reread convinced me to paranormal for the modern setting.
URBAN FANTASY
ReplyDeleteModern weapons + Fae
Fantasy
ReplyDeleteFae...
Fantasy
ReplyDeleteWith the fae, it's the first thing I thought of
Fantasy, because of the references to gods and fae.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your guesses!
ReplyDeleteThe correct answer is Fantasy. The fae are zombie-esque, and the majority of the novel is set in an old castle in the woods, and not our world (the urban setting is just in the beginning). While there is an apocalyptic feel to it, there never was any single event or catalyst that made it that way.