Archive of Our Own

Work Text

November 17th, 1915

"What appears to be the end, may really be a new beginning.” -unknown

Stretching out on the beige couch, Daniel groaned of boredom. It had been nearly an hour since his girlfriend, Winnie, left for the store. He gave up on taking a nap and sat up looking for something to do. Standing up, he stretched his arms out above his head and reached for the sky. He let out a roaring yawn as his toes curled and his muscles constricted. He shook it off and headed towards the fireplace to poke the wood. Winter was coming and he didn’t like to be cold. Feeling satisfied with the growing flames, he decided he’d entertain himself the old fashioned way. Turning to pass the couch and coffee table, Daniel walked into the master bedroom and flipped the lights on. The massive room illuminated to expose the disaster of clothes. Winnie’s clothes were sprawled across the floor and sequined curtains hung around the perimeter of their king size bed. Walking towards the full-body mirror, Daniel tripped over a pair of black high heels. He balanced himself and cursed under his breath. Ever since the couple decided to cohabitate, Winnie had treated the bedroom floor as her own personal closet; it drove Daniel insane. Finally making it to the mirror, he locked eyes with himself and mentally concentrated on a figure. Suddenly, his pampered, brown hair transformed into short grey stubble, his deep, brown eyes started to fade, and his beautiful, olive face started to sag along with his posture. He raised his eyebrows and snickered.
“Too old,” he commented in a deep, raspy voice that wasn’t his originally. Daniel was what the Court called a successful experiment. About 400 years ago, his parents sold him to a group who called themselves the Nécron. They promised to bring a better future for the people of Russia and at a high reward, too. The Volikov family accepted 300 rubles in exchange for 17 year old Demyan. Demyan was Daniel’s birth name. It was given to him with pride by his father at his first birthday. Children weren’t often given names until their first birthday, once the high chance of death had passed. Daniel was removed from his family home in the middle of the night and taken to an underground lair that reeked of chemicals and dirt. He was chained to a slab of stone and injected with a glowing, green liquid. As soon as the chemical entered his body, he was sent into a convulsing shock. After an hour, the chemical was fully injected and his body was conformed to the new cells. He repeatedly dazed in and out of consciousness throughout the process. He could clearly see the men’s faces surrounding him. They stared at him as if he were a disgusting blemish on the face of their perfect planet. He didn’t feel differently, but his heart was racing and he was worried what he may look like. He screamed at the men, but they did nothing beyond ignore him. It took a few long weeks, full of whips, chains and torture, for the Nécron to be pleased with their results. They subjected Daniel to all sorts of torture to try and trigger his new abilities. Finally, they received a breakthrough after forcing Daniel to stare at himself in the mirror for nearly 24 hours. During those long hours, his brain had started to shift and he began thinking of his family. He felt betrayed by all of them except his younger brother, Nikolai. Nik had tried to come with Daniel when the Nécron came for him, but it was no use. The Nécron had thrown him to the side and only taken the one they paid for. That’s when it happened; Daniel’s features started to change for the first time. Sharp pain coursed through his every muscle and every bone. He cried out and begged them to make it stop, but the men merely stood around and watched in awe. Feeling the pain surpass, Daniel looked up to see his younger brother’s reflection. His heart tightened. “Nikolai?” he asked, scurrying closer to the boy. As he moved, so did the figure. Realization hit him when he touched the glass and felt nothing but cold metal against his palm. He let out a soft sob and his body collapsed against the hard dirt. The next morning, he awoke in the woods. He wasn’t sure of his location, but he decided from then on he was going to travel as far away from Russia as possible. He arrived to another tribe, far away, months later where he met an old couple that took him in and gave him his new name: Daniel Harling.
Coming back to present time, Daniel concentrated again, his hair started to grow long and brown. His body started to slim down and his facial features became more feminine. After many years of practice, Daniel could now configure his shape without pain. When he came out of his haze, he took in the figure before him.
“Mama..” he whispered. Memories flooded his head. His mother was always his favorite parent, despite the betrayal he felt. His father was an abusive drunk who didn’t deserve such an angelic soul as her’s. But it wasn’t long until his subconscious was pulled back into reality, as well as his own body, when he noticed his beautiful girlfriend, Winnie, walk into the room.
“Oh, hey babe!” he said with a loving smile that seemed so genuine. He could sense something was off about her by the unpleasant facial expression she possessed and her tense body language as she walked towards him. As if changing her mind, she moved the sequined curtains from around the bed and sat on the edge.
“Hey, hun,” she replied as she took off her alter with a snap of her fingers and the familiar explosion of blue sparks, exposing her exotic, turquoise skin that shimmered in the low lighting of the bedroom. She wore what looked to be a costly, sleeveless dress. It didn’t do much when it came to accentuating her figure, but she wasn’t worried about her appearance right now. She looked at Daniel and sighed. He could see by her eyes that she had an important question to ask him, but he couldn’t understand any more than that. Winnie had always confused him, from the moment he met her. He stopped believing in love when his family sold him. But rather, he took pride in his true beliefs: sex and procreation. It was part of his nature; it was in his newly formed DNA. The Nécron called him ‘Experiment A001’ and he had an uncontrollable urge to reproduce and protect their race. But with Winnie, he felt different. He thought that there was a chance he could love her; he’d had many internal conflicts about the subject over the many years they’d spent together. He had tried and tried to convince himself that it was not a big deal.
“Where were you last night?” Winnie finally asked the question that had been eating at her inside. The words slipped off of her tongue like ice slicing through the air. Her eyes flickered from the mess of clothes on the ground to his deep, brown eyes. She couldn’t stop herself from looking at the man she had come to love for nearly a hundred years. She often told herself that she shouldn’t love him, that he constantly broke her heart, but she couldn’t help herself. Daniel was her addiction; she would always have to return for a fix of his poison. Winnie predicted this upcoming fight would be just like all the others. She would get upset, they would fight, she would look at his hurt expression and that would be the end of it. They would then have sex and the fight would be over. She would find herself falling in love with him all over again; while learning to hate herself even more than the last time he walked all over her and her dignity. She always told herself it was her own fault, but this time she stayed strong. This time, it had to stop, it had to be the end of the messed up cycle of love and hate that they called a relationship. She refused to be the victim in his madness once again.
“What do you mean? I was with Robert, you know that,” Daniel replied, his eyes filled with questions and concern. He walked towards her, careful not to trip over anything, and sat on the edge of the bed beside her.
“You weren’t with Robert; I just saw his wife at the market. She said he was home with her all night. I’m not stupid, Demyan,” she replied and bit her lip. Sitting up straighter, she fought the urge to curl up next to her love and forgive him for all of his wrongdoings. He looked at her even more confused; he knew that he was caught red-handed. The use of his birth name sent a shiver down his spine. He hadn’t been called it in years. Winnie was the only person he ever told about his past and his true name. But in return, she had to tell him about hers. About her birth name and her past. He tried to look more innocent than he was. He kept the confused facade up a while longer.
“I don’t think you’re stupid, Winnie. What is this about anyway?” He shifted on the bed and grabbed her soft, blue hand. She quickly pulled her hand away and took a final moment to think her decision through. Should she ignore the issue once more and go back to pretending that she didn’t know he was cheating? She could still be happy, right? No, she thought, I need to do this now. Otherwise, nothing will ever change. She took a deep breath and continued to push the issue.
“Who were you really with last night, Daniel? I deserve to know the truth.” Daniel’s heart dropped with defeat. He looked everywhere but her eyes. Her eyes. He couldn’t stop but think of how beautifully blue they were, even in the midst of a fight.
“What are you implying?” He started to stutter, which was unlike him; he was a charismatic man who did not have to struggle to find the right words to say. “I was,” he paused, “with Robert. I told you that.” Winnie shook her head stubbornly. She knew better than that. He knew as well as she did that he was not with his colleague, Robert, the previous night. He was only playing games at this point and it was pissing her off. She was going to get through to him and show him that he couldn’t use her like he used everyone else. She was not his toy. Not anymore.
“Fine. If you were with Robert last night, look me in the eyes and tell me so,” she said angrily. She was fed up with all of his games. She stood up and waited for a reply, her hands placed on her hips in an annoyed manner. Daniel ignored her request and continued to look across the room and not at her. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you weren’t with another woman, Daniel!” Winnie requested again, even more frustrated. Daniel closed his eyes.
“Fine.” he said softly. He stood up and looked his devastated girlfriend in the eyes. “I won’t lie to you anymore. I was with another woman.” Winnie’s heart shattered as she looked at the ground. She promised herself that she would not cry in front of him. So instead, she lifted her head and sent an icy, blue glare at him.
“Why? I mean, if you don’t want me anymore, just tell me! I could leave right now and neither of us would really care! Just admit it!” She knew she was lying. She would care and it would hurt like hell. She didn’t know what she would do without Daniel. He had been her life for nearly one hundred years of her pathetic life. Her chest felt like it was going to explode from her heart pounding so hard. She started breathing heavier to regain composure. Finding that her legs would no longer support her, Winnie sat back down on the bed and put her head in her hands and sighed. Daniel wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and kiss her worries away.
“Of course I want you. I have always wanted you. I love you. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.” He looked up at her with a small tear rolling down his cheek. He could feel the hurt he had caused her and knew this fight was different than all the others. “I know you will never forgive me. I would bet money on that, but you know what I am and how I live. I have to reproduce to keep my kind alive. I don’t have feelings for that girl, or any other girl but you. I haven’t been able control my urges since the experiment- you know that. Winnie, I am so, so sorry.” And he really was sorry, in a sense. He cared for Winnie more than he ever cared for anyone else he’d met in his life. They certainly had had a connection at one point that he had never experienced before. Was that love? He didn’t know.
Winnie breathed in rapidly and realized just how close she was to having a panic attack. Daniel had been the only person to ever be able to comfort her out of one of her attacks. It was difficult, but she managed to keep her breathing normal. She didn’t reply, instead she turned her back to him so she wouldn’t have to face the man who had spent the past century breaking her bit by bit. Daniel knew that he had officially pushed her over the edge and that he was going to lose the only woman he’d ever thought he might have loved.
“Winnie, I’m sorry,” he said once again. His face was red with frustration and anger; anger at himself and the world. He wasn’t sure how he would survive without her. Her and her blue hair that always looked perfect, even early in the mornings. As well as her sexy body that had always seemed to intertwine perfectly with his. Memories of their time together replayed in his head. The first time he had met her, their first date, their first time having sex, their first trip across the world together, their first masquerade ball, their first fight which led to their first make-up sex. Daniel fought back the tears. He couldn’t understand these emotions that were filling him to the brim. “Please,” he paused, slightly overcome with emotion, “say something.” His voice cracked.
“I know. I know that that it is what you have to do to survive, something they made you do when they made you,” she stuttered and paused to compose herself. She thought maybe she had no right to be upset about him only doing what he had to to survive. After all, she didn’t get mad at him for eating or for sleeping. He always lies about it, though, she reminded herself. Maybe she wasn’t made for a relationship where it wasn’t monogamous, “but I can’t be with you when you do. I just can’t handle the lies.”
She felt a tear fall down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and turned her gaze to Daniel. She stared straight into his dark eyes and remembered an abundance of wonderful memories they had made together. She remembered the moment when she had sworn to herself that she was going to get to know Daniel in a way no one else knew him. She knew she was the closest person to him and that she was his one true love; but did she really believe that she was different than all the others? She thought she had seen something in him that might be considered love. When she would look at him, she often caught him staring at her first, not lustfully, but lovingly, longingly. She really had thought they could make this relationship work, that he was the one she would marry and have a future with. Whether or not Daniel was the one for her didn't matter anymore. No matter how much she loved him, she couldn't let him keep using her like this and shatter her heart over and over. She couldn't fight him anymore, or his way of living. She thought maybe he should be able to live the way he needed to and she should be able to live the way she needed. She knew they cared for each other more than anything else, but maybe that wasn’t enough. She felt her heart breaking again as she realized maybe they were never going to work. It was something she’d put on the back burner, but she couldn’t ignore it anymore. She hated his lies and his games and the way he played. It made her feel degraded and disgusted with both him and herself. Looking at him this way, she had to resist the strong urge to lean into his warmth and kiss him one more time. She bit her lip and looked away again to keep from doing something she would later regret. Daniel felt as if his heart had fallen off the roof of the tallest building and shatter into oblivion. He just lost the one person he cared about more than anything in this world. He was in the middle of harboring a whirlwind of emotions.
“What do you mean? Don’t say those kinds of things! Of course you can. I mean, I’ll stop. I’ll stop. I promise. Is that what you want? Please!” He’d blurted it out before he knew what he was saying. He stopped his pleading to take a breath and make sure no more tears escaped his eyes. “Please. Just don’t leave me.” His voice cracked as he spoke. The room around him seemed to turn black. What once were memories of love and happiness, were now full of hate and heartbreak. He bowed his head and ran his hands through his hair. “Please,” he pleaded softly, completely broken.
Winnie analyzed the situation as a whole. It took all of her strength not to wrap her arms around her lover and return to acting like nothing ever happened, just like every time this had happened before. She sat down on the closest chair and tried to regain her normal breathing. She needed to get away from him. Daniel was her biggest weakness and they both knew that. He had used her, abused her, and played her like a toy. For a century. Hell, she was sure he was toying with her right now. Could she really find the strength to walk away from the one person she loved more than anything? Surely he knew how much she loved him, how he was her Achilles heel. He must have known how hard this was. His act made it worse. They had spent so many years together. Sure, they had their breakups, but they had some great memories together.
“I know it’s not the first time you have done this. I just haven’t said anything before this. I've ignored it for the sake of this-” She felt herself breaking more, “-this entirely messed up relationship.”
Daniel looked at himself in the mirror from across the room. He realized he was acting weak and his body stiffened as he glared at his reflexion. Suddenly, his reflexion was replaced by a mental image of his father. His father was a tall man, nearly seven foot, who always got his way. He was rough, tough, and all around, not a very friendly man. He had a muscular build and a brown beard that complimented his hard, brown eyes. He only smiled when he was around his wife, Daniel’s mother. His mother was an average-faced woman with long, black hair and piercing, green eyes. She had no special qualities, but Daniel’s father loved her dearly.
Growing up, Daniel’s family lived with a village of people in Russia. Their group was located very close to the forbidden forest. It was seen as “forbidden” because there were wild beasts that were thought to live within and it was not safe. Daniel and his younger brother, Nikolai, would often run away to play in the forest and forage for food. Believe it or not, Daniel used to be a happy child who enjoyed nature. This was, until one day his father found him playing in the woods. Sensing his father’s presence, Daniel felt a sharp pin of electricity course through his body and he quickly hid his brother in a bush and himself behind a tree out of fear. As if being reenacted, Daniel could feel the rough hands pulling his small body out from behind the tree. He could also feel the fists colliding against his cheeks and the knees pounding into his ribcage as small, blue eyes witnessed through the bush. His father accused him of what he referred to as “doing womanly things” by foraging for food and repeated how he would not have anything but a strong willed son living in his home. His father was a proud sexist, and always flaunted having sons, not daughters. Being pulled back into reality, rage overwhelmed Daniel. He would not be weak. He would not let his father down again. Finding himself drifting toward Winnie, he was close enough to reach out and touch her if he wanted.
“Whatever! You clearly don’t understand anything! If you don’t want me anymore, then fine. But you will regret it.” He moved to walk past Winnie, causing her to unconsciously flinch away from him. He gave her a hurt and confused look; she hadn’t flinched in a long time. He thought they’d gotten over that, but apparently he seemed angry enough to resort to hitting her again.He couldn’t take being in the same room as her for one more second, so he stormed outside. The frigid breeze tore through his clothes and sent goosebumps across his body. It was raining softly, just enough to get his clothes soaked quickly. He sat in his car and punched the steering wheel, causing the horn to honk loudly. He started his car and placed his hands on the wheel. He wasn’t sure where he was he supposed to go. Winnie was all he knew in this town or hell, even this country. He rested his head against the back of his hands and screamed. He felt like his whole world had just tilted sideways. All he felt was pain and anger, he took a deep breath, started the car, and speedily drove to the nearest pub.
Winnie sat there, in the now deserted apartment. She realized that her breathing had gotten out of control and tried to bring it back to normal. Instead, she found herself sobbing. The tears fell as she sat there, feeling her world empty itself. Her shattered heart saw no hope. Daniel was her first love; her first real love. He was her everything, but she knew she had to fix this situation; otherwise it would have gotten out of control. Sobbing, she stood up and ran to the closet and started ripping Daniel’s clothes out and throwing them across the room and out the window. She was shaking from head to toe. Giving up on everything, she fell to the ground and screamed. She questioned the very reason of her awful existence. How would she go on after this? How could she get over him, without him? Daniel was supposed to be the one thing she could have and never lose. Winnie had been abandoned by her family. She had nothing left until Daniel came into her life. Now what was she supposed to do? Daniel woke up with his head on his crossed arms that rested on the pub counter. His eyesight was extremely fuzzy. He tried to stand, but stumbled and grabbed a chair. Regaining some balance, he slowly started to walk. He was trying hard to focus his eyesight and fight off the alcohol at the same time.
“Get away,” he mumbled, pushing a blonde tramp out of his way. She made a disgusted sound, called him an asshole, and huffed away. He continued his way outside and finally made it to his car. He searched for his keys and yelled when he couldn’t find them. Frustrated he got in his car and slammed the door. He looked over to the passenger seat and found them lying there next to him. He grabbed them and fumbled to put the keys in the ignition. Once the car was started, he slammed it into reverse and started to pull out, almost hitting a black ford. He drove down the road to the nearest hotel, swerving the entire way, his vision wavered in and out. Finally, he pulled into the parking lot and surprisingly parked without any further complications. He stumbled out of the car and walked through the front doors.
“Hello, sir, welcome to the Biltmore Hotel. We have-” the man behind the counter started his typical speech until Daniel interrupted him.
“Please,” he started as he stumbled and gripped the marble counter. “Just- shut up and give me a room. I’ll pay you when I’m ready to leave.” He slurred a little along the way, but managed to get it all out. The man was shocked to be spoken to in such a way.
“Excuse me sir, but are you under the influence of alc-” The man sounded genuinely concerned.
“What did I just tell you? I don’t care what you have to say. Don’t make me repeat myself, Winnie!” Daniel interrupted once again. He pounded his fist against the counter and the man jumped slightly. He started to ask who Winnie was, but figured that would only anger the man more. “You won’t give me a room? Fine, I’ll get one myself.” Fed up, Daniel reached behind the counter and got himself a room key. He started to walk down the hall towards the numbered rooms when he stopped and turned back around. “You call the police on me and I will kill you with my bare hands. You got that?” Daniel threatened him with a look of all seriousness. The man’s face was filled with pure fear as he nodded slowly.
“I understand, sir. Enjoy your stay.” The words spilled out of the stuttering man’s mouth quickly. Nervous sweat dwelled on his forehead. Daniel scoffed, turned and headed to his self-assigned room. After fumbling with the door handle, he finally got inside. The room was small, dark, and smelled musty. Daniel groaned in dissatisfaction. Tearing his clothes off, he headed to the shower. The water was cold, and stayed that way, but it would help him clear his mind. The ice water made him shiver, but instantly cured the hangover. He looked at the rusty shower head and closed his eyes, letting the water run down his face and body.Sitting on a bench in the rain at one of the many New York parks, Winnie kicked her mud-covered heels back and forth above the drenched ground. It was nearing wintertime, but instead of snow it kept raining. She sniffled and ran a pale hand through her black hair. She felt utterly betrayed and was past the point of return. She was exhausted and could barely maintain her alter. After wrestling with the fact that her true love betrayed her trust- and not just once- she was left with no other choice. She couldn’t keep living a lie. Daniel had been the main reason for all the love, the joy, the pain. He was the source for all the emotion she had felt over the course of a hundred years. One did not just move on from that.
Their love was intense, extraordinarily passionate and full of compassion, even if others didn’t see it. Winnie had loved Daniel with a willing and open heart. It was evident since the beginning that her way of loving was genuinely different from Daniel’s way of loving. She had questioned herself and endured others verbalizing their concerns that Daniel never loved her; that he was just using her for sex. After being with Daniel off and on for 70 years, she had become more certain that he did love her, just in his own way. He may not love her the way she wanted, but he showed he loved her everyday.
Thinking too much about her past, and Daniel, Winnie rubbed her face, only to discern that she was crying again. She wiped at her makeup coated eyes and cursed herself for ruining it. Winnie sighed and realized that she was left with nothing but questions. What was she to do now? Where was she to go? What was the point in living anymore? She thought about going to a hotel, or maybe a bar, but decided against it.
Suddenly, she found herself reminded of all the time she had spent with her ex-boyfriend and mentor, Marcus Cruz. She remembered the time she had run across him on the street as no more than a child. She was sixteen when she had first met him and had trusted him wholeheartedly to take her in. He had given her shelter, food, clothes, and compassion while everyone else had simply ran in terror. Despite the fact he was her mentor and protector, he was at one point her lover as well. Around the age of 20, she realized that the love she had with Marcus wasn’t her destiny. Her love for Marcus was simply strong friendship rather than a romantic relationship. She knew now where she always seemed to go when the rest of her world was falling out around her; the one person who would always be there for her, no matter what others thought.
“I have to see Marcus.” She mumbled to herself, shivering from the cold winter breeze as she stood up from the freezing metal bench.
She began walking down the cold, wet street and approached a familiar brick building. The lights were off, but she knew that Marcus would still be awake. She came to the door and pressed the buzzer. Once. Then, twice. The rain slowly stopped, leaving her utterly soaked. This caused her makeup to smear more than it already was. She took a deep breath and waited for a moment. The cold wind ripped through Winnie’s dress. She feared hypothermia might overcome her. She wrapped her arms around herself and heard a familiar, husky voice on the other end of the speaker.
“It had better be important."
“I-It’s Winnie,” she stammered. She brushed her icy hands over her face, trying to look somewhat presentable and knowing it wasn’t possible right now. There was a beep and the door instantly opened. She walked through and up the stairs. When she got to the hall, a towering man stood in the doorway to greet her. He took in her appearance, put his arm around her, and led her inside without a word. They walked to the velvet couch and she sat down, pulling a fleece, mink blanket around her frigid body.
“You want a drink, kitten?” Marcus asked, eying her. She nodded slowly and he snapped his fingers. Green mist swirled slowly out of his wiggling fingers until the shape of a porcelain mug was formed. He looked down to his hands and handed her a hot chocolate with an alcoholic kick. She drank it too quickly and was pleased when it refilled itself. She looked at Marcus for a moment and turned her gaze back down to the floor. Marcus sat beside her and squeezed her hand.
“Is it Daniel?” She nodded in reply and felt her eyes stinging with tears again. Marcus grimaced. “He’s an ass. You want to talk about it?” He asked as he pulled her close to him to attempt to warm her up. She shook her head and opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again.
“You were right, Marcus. He’s nothing but an experiment, you know. He has to be with other women to keep his species going. I just-” she took a deep breath and felt Marcus squeeze her hand again as her words faltered. “I just can’t stay with him knowing that. And, of course, I’ve known for a while, but I finally broke it off. I just- I didn’t know where else to go. I’m sorr-” Marcus shook his head.
“No, no, no, kitten. No need to apologize. You know you are always welcome here. I’m sorry about him. He didn’t deserve you. But you need to remember that once you make the decision to move on, you can’t choose to look back. Your destiny won’t be found in a rear view mirror. You have to keep moving forward and you have to fight.”
His words spoke to her heart. She shifted closer to him, looked up at his face, and took in his overall comforting presence. His golden brown eyes were enhanced by the lighting. His curly, brown hair stopped just above his shoulders. She always seemed to find herself crying on Marcus’ shoulder.
“You’re such a good person,” she mumbled through her tears. He laughed at that.
“I’m anything but.” He put his gentle arm around her and joined her under the warm blanket like they had so many times before. He was her best friend long before he was her boyfriend and she loved their friendship. He was always here for her.
Resting her cold face in the crook of his neck, she shivered. He always seemed to be naturally warm-blooded. She remembered the hours spent cuddling with him, in this very same living room even. She could feel his breath flow past her cheek and the familiar scent of Marcus wafted up her nose.
“I love you more than anyone, you know that right?” she whispered into his neck. Marcus gazed at her with his loving eyes.“As do I, Winnie,” he said as he slid a piece of wet hair behind her ear. After looking at him for a hard minute, Winnie leaned in and kissed him slowly him on the lips. He had extraordinarily soft lips, like always, but his facial hair had started to grow out a bit and tickled her lips. He responded willingly and she continued kissing him harder and more longingly. He moved one hand to her waist and the other behind her head. He intertwined his fingers in her damp hair and deepened the kiss. Her hands slid up his shirt to feel his abs. The kiss turned sloppy and their tongues started to clash. As if a bucket of ice water was dumped on him, Marcus quickly pulled away.“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked furrowing his brows and looking at her with question. “I don’t want you to regret any of this in the morning.” Winnie moved to straddle him.“I’m sure. I need you right now.” She looked at him longingly and leaned down to kiss his neck. He moaned softly into the air and continued to kiss her harder than before. His hand brushed over her face and he thought it felt wet. He willed himself to pull away once again and lift her face. Her breath was ragged, even more so than what this situation could cause, and he knew it. He wiped her cheeks and she opened her eyes. She was, indeed, crying. He looked at her with concerned, golden-brown eyes. She shook her head and wiped her face. She then intertwined her fingers in his messy hair and pulled him back to the kiss once more.They ended up in the bedroom upstairs on Marcus’ queen size bed with their clothes hurled around the room. Over an hour passes of their bodies intertwining in several positions. The air was hot and sweat crept down Winnie’s forehead. She lie next to Marcus and put her head on his chest to feel his heart beating.“Are you okay?” he asked her softly, worried.“Physically? I mean I’ve had worse,” she joked, smirking up at him. His only reply was the continued focusing of his golden-brown eyes at her, so she added, “I’ll be fine. Thanks.” She leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. He smiled softly and pulled more of the blankets up around her naked body. She yawned and felt her eye droop. Exhaustion was finally catching up with her. She laid her head on his bare chest and was soothed to sleep by his steady heartbeat.
Marcus looked down at Winnie, the girl he had taken in years ago, who had easily become one of his best friends and saw him as a mentor. He looked at her face that had always been there to pick him up when he had needed it. He had seen her challenged with many difficulties in her life: being abandoned by her family, friends, the world. She had been shunned similarly to how he had been.
She looked so exhausted, not like she needed more sleep, but simply she was exhausted of life. She had gotten to the age where she was starting to come to terms with how hard being immortal really was. After being alive so long, one begins to stop feeling. Marcus hoped that she would not reach that extreme, but it was coming. She had gone through the period of her life where she screwed around, partied, and tried so hard to feel something. She had been through the drug and alcohol phase. Anything she could think of to help, she had tried. Marcus attempted to be there for her the whole time. Although, when Daniel came around, Marcus noticed that she was definitely feeling something. It may have been confusion, hatred, love, anger and so much sadness, but she was feeling.
Now that he thought about it, that may have been the reason she unconsciously put herself through the hell that was her relationship with Daniel. They had gone through their fair share of breakups; she had been hurt and angry over every last one. This one, though, seemed to be different, the end. This caused Marcus to be both grateful and worried that their cycle of hell was over. He was far from happy that Winnie had been so repeatedly pained by the same person, of whom she claimed was her true love. But he was thrilled to think that she wouldn’t go back. Marcus wondered how this would affect Winnie later on. It was simply the concern that once your heart was burnt, torn, and beaten repeatedly for so long by the one you love more than anything, it becomes extremely hard to give your heart away and to let others in.
He brushed his hand gently over her peaceful face, feeling the warmth of her soft skin. He loved this woman so much and he could discern how troubled she had been lately. She had kept commenting more and more about Daniel’s lifestyle. Marcus had seen this day coming for a while. He had been watching and waiting for them to end it due to Daniel being a complete jerk, but he did not tell Winnie that. He thought she deserved better. She had always been easily susceptible to anxiety attacks and depression. She tried to keep up the facade that nothing ever hurt her, but when it got down to it, she was just scared of what would happen tomorrow. Marcus had quickly learned to read her emotions and body language. He could tell she had been through hell and at some point, she would tell him more about it. He sighed as he closed his own eyes and lulled his brain to stop rambling about so he could fall asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

November 30, 2001

“When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure.” -unknown
They walked into the new house side by side, Marcus’ arm around Zeake and Nicolle walking beside them, connected at the hip with Shaine. They had two bottles of wine, a couple pizzas, and matching smiles bright enough to last a lifetime. Zeake had never seen Nicolle as happy as she had been that day, with Shaine’s tan hand resting gently on her expanded stomach.They spent the day with Marcus and Nicolle discussing when the baby shower would occur. Nicolle and Shaine could barely keep their hands off of each other, caught no less than three times in the bathroom together. Zeake was disgusted at the sight of his older sister and her husband making out. Nicolle had blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, but they all knew better. The two male warriors, along with the warlock, carried the furniture in and all around the house until Nicolle told them it was perfect. They spent all day there, all of them completely exhausted from the physical labor. After moving Nicolle and Shaine into their first house together, Marcus and Zeake had gotten a cab back to their own apartment to pass out from the exertion. Back then, their lives had been much more simple and Zeake was still capable of a genuine smile. About 14 years after that day, Zeake got a phone call from his sister’s choked voice asking him for the biggest favor of his life.The sound of a phone ringing hardly managed to get Marcus’ attention away from his beautiful husband. He planted another loving kiss to those familiar lips and tightened his grip in the other’s dark hair, causing a content sigh. Zeake smirked up at the other, gently pushing him away from his position of pinning the warrior to the kitchen counter with his own lithe body. Zeake chuckled softly and pressed a quick kiss to his jaw when he sensed the familiar pawing at his feet. He looked down at their obese pug they had adopted a couple years ago and rolled his eyes. The dog was currently giving Marcus the eyes he always used to get what he wanted, and Marcus couldn’t seem to help but fall for it every time. Whether it was asking Zeake to carry the dog up the stairs or giving him more food than he clearly needed. Marcus spoiled the dog more than anything, but Zeake couldn’t help but love him for it, along with many other things.“Tater-tot, you do not need more food,” he said to the dog and walked to the living area of the apartment to pick up his Nokia cell phone off of the coffee table. Seeing the picture of his sister on the screen and pressed the green button to accept the call.“Hello?” the warrior asked with what he hoped sounded like an even tone. Nicolle, Shaine and their two kids, Rylan and Kyle, were supposed to be going out that night to celebrate Rylan’s birthday and Christmas Eve. Rylan was turning fourteen, while Kyle was thirteen.“Zeake,” came the quiet voice that was undeniably his sister, with a hoarse voice. “I need you.” The broken sounds from the other line was like nails on a chalkboard. Muffled high pitched sobs could be heard as well as quiet voices.“Nicki, where are you? Are you okay? What happened?” the warrior asked quickly, his voice rising in worry and his posture growing tense. He had never heard his sister sound like this. She sounded weak and vulnerable, and Zeake was sure he heard sniffling come from the other line.“We are on Fifth Avenue,” he heard her attempting to remain calm in what was obviously a heartbreaking scene. He felt a lump in his throat. “We need you now. Zeake, the kids, they- Shaine! Baby, wake up, please! Shaine, no! Just hurry.” Upon hearing this, Zeake heard a low, concerned voice from behind him. He turned to see the tall, handsome warlock leaning against the doorway with a serious look on his face.“Love, is everything alright?” his husband asked. Zeake turned to face him and nodded. He tried his best to hide his panic, but knew Marcus could always read him better than that.“I will be there as soon as I can, Nicki.” He silently prayed to every entity that his family was going to be okay. They had to be. He ran to peck his lover on the cheek quickly before giving what he hoped seemed like an apologetic look, rather than a concerned one. “Rogue Experiment attack. I have to go. I will be back in time to finish celebrating, though.”“It’s snowing, so be extra careful. I love you.” Marcus smiled softly and helped Zeake put his coat on so he wouldn’t freeze in the cold winter night. He opened the door to see snow falling to the ground, covering it in white, like an angels’ tears were freezing in midair and falling from above.“I love you, too,” the warrior said back quickly, attaching his conveniently placed weapons belt and running out the door. Little did he know the web of lies this first lie would lead to. Zeake knew exactly where he was going: the direction of Central Park. He ran and ran, and even when he was out of breath, he kept running faster, harder, hoping with every fiber in his body that he’d find his sister’s family in good health.Arriving on Fifth Avenue, Zeake almost stopped from the sudden shock of the stench of something sour- gasoline. He inhaled and ran faster, looking around to see if he could pinpoint where they were. He forced his legs to keep running in the direction that he heard sound coming from. He looked in front of him far enough to see a disaster area. A completely crushed car smashed into a giant tree with now broken limbs. There was thick smoke escaping the top of the car in gray swirls into the white-flaked sky, mixing with the snow. Zeake’s eyes widened in horror at the sight. Of course he’d seen worse. He was a warrior. They all had. But this, seeing it like this, was worse. He denied that it was his family in the car when he heard muffled sounds come from within. He ran to the right side of the vehicle and immediately saw a familiar face in the passenger seat window, like a pale ghost through the glass. He opened the door carefully, though it took more effort because the door was banged up. He ripped it off and saw the horror scene that would haunt his dreams forever.“Nicki! Fuck,” he said loudly, taking in the crash all at once. Nicolle was covered in blood in the passenger seat, beside her was Shaine, who was unresponsive. When he looked into the backseat of the car, Zeake saw poor Kyle was unconscious- at least he hoped to God he was - and Rylan sitting against the seat with dark blood splatters on her once white dress and wide eyes, wailing loudly with tears streaming down her petite face. “Is he-” he started to ask her, but she interrupted him with a wet whisper.“He is-” Nicolle started.“Daddy!” Rylan screamed at the man in the driver’s seat. “Daddy, please! Wake up!” Zeake swallowed hard as he saw the raw heartbreak flash on his sister’s face.“Nicki, are you hurt? Rylan, sweetie, you have to get out of the car.” Rylan shook her head and kept crying for her dad to wake up, to please open his eyes.“He is dead,” Nicolle whimpered with a wet cough, red liquid dribbling down her pale chin. “Shaine, he is-” She coughed again and more blood appeared, but she seemed unable to wipe it away. “The kids are okay, but Shaine is-” She seemed to release a broken sort of heart wrenching sob, but it only came out as another cough.“Shit shit shit. Nicki, listen, are you okay? Are you hurt? I need to get you guys to a hospital. Better yet, I can call Marcus and-” he couldn’t stop the cascade of words and looked from Shaine to Nicolle to Rylan and Kyle. “Rylan, hon-”“Daddy! Why is daddy not waking up?” The girl yelled, tears still streaming down her face.“No. They cannot know, Zeake. Promise me you will not let anyone find out that-” Nicolle took in a shuddering breath, “that Kyle is not mine. No one can know, Zeake. Promise me. Please.” Her eyes fluttered and her breathing seemed slower. Zeake looked back at the kids, who were covered in splatters of blood, with unshed tears and nodded vigorously at his sister.“I promise, Nic-” he said. She smiled sadly.“Take care of them, Zeake. I love you so much. I love you all so much. Rylan, honey-” she coughed and took a minute to finish, “I love you so much, Rylan, my baby.” Rylan sobbed harder as she didn’t know what to say.“Mom- I love you, too. Just let Uncle Zeake help you! Mommy, please!” she said. The tears finally fell from Nicolle’s darkened blue eyes.“I am so sorry,” she mumbled as her eyes fluttered closed for the last time and her breathing stilled.“Mommy! No!” Rylan screamed at her mother.“No no no, Nicki! Nicolle, damn it, wake up! Nicki, please just-” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Looking at Rylan and Kyle, he wiped his eyes viciously and pressed a gentle kiss to his sister’s forehead. “You will be remembered, Nicolle Kennedy, beloved wife, mother, and sister. I love you, Nicki,” he said hoarsely. He looked at Shaine and Nicolle one last time with silent thoughts whirling around his head. When he turned his attention back to the kids, Kyle was still unconscious and Rylan looked at him with angry, teary eyes.“Why did you save not her? You could have saved mommy! You killed her!” She hissed at him. Zeake opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn’t find it in him to argue with the innocent child. He walked to her door and tore it off the hinges, letting her out. She sat there and shook her head violently.“Sweetie, please. You have to get out.” He pleaded with her.“No no no! I do not want to go with you!” she cried quickly.“Rylan, the car is burning. I need to get you and your brother out. Come on. Please. Let me help you,” he pleaded with her. People were starting to surround the crash, he had to hurry. She gave him a look and finally let him help her out of the vehicle. He lightly set her feet on the ground, leaving his arm around her. Looking down at the girl, he asked, “Can you walk?”As soon as she nodded in silent reply, Zeake ran to the other side of the car and tore the other door off, throwing it aside. He took off his coat and wrapped it around the boy carefully. He gently put his arms around the boy to pick him up.“Kyle? Kyle, can you hear me?” he asked once he had the small boy in his arms. Sighing in worry, he looked down and noticed he had a small amount of blood coming from his head. He bit his lip and vowed silently to protect these kids forever. He looked at Rylan and saw how vulnerable she was.“Hey, Rylan.” He started, the girl looked up to him. “We are going somewhere to get help, okay? I am going to take care of you guys no matter what.” Zeake held an unconscious Kyle in one hand and the hand of Rylan with the other.“Can you please turn your coat inside out quickly, honey? Do you trust me?” The girl didn’t respond, only did as he asked quietly. He pulled out his cell phone from his pants pocket and dialled a familiar phone number. He decided to call the only person he could imagine going to with this situation. He took a deep breath and pressed the green call button.“Hey, Rylan.” He started, the girl looked up to him. “We are going somewhere to get help, okay? I am going to take care of you guys no matter what.” Zeake held an unconscious Kyle in one hand and the hand of Rylan with the other. Looking over at the man on the other side of the bed with mixed emotions, Winnie heard her phone continue to ring. She supposed that she should probably answer it. Sighing slightly, Winnie sat up on the bed and pulled the covers around her body.“What can I do for you?” She picked up the phone and demanded. The man stared at her with emotions in his eyes that she couldn’t seem to read properly as she waited for an answer on the other line.“It is Zeake. It is- uh, it is important. I need your help.” Winnie’s eyes widened in worry.“Is it Marcus? Is he okay? What’s going-” she said.“No. It is not Marcus. Marcus is fine.” After a moment of pause, he continued, “Can you do a memory spell? It’s a long story, but I think it’s for the best. I will pay you, I jus-” Hearing the desperation in the man’s voice, she obliged.“Yes, I will help you, but I won’t require payment. Are you on your way to my apartment?”“We are about to get a taxi,” he said.“Alright. I need to retrieve the proper spell book for a spell so intricate,” she said, planning for what was to come. Whatever this was, it was bad. If Marcus’ husband was calling her at this time sounding desperate as she’d never even imagined him sounding, she would do everything she could to help. If anything, she owed Marcus that.“Thank you so much, Winnie,” he said.“Anything for a friend.” Once she hung up, the warlock stood up quickly and started her search for her clothes. She found her underwear under one of the pillows that had somehow been thrown from the bed. “Daniel, I need a favor.”“You always need a favor. What is it this time?” he teased, smirking gently. Her mouth twitched into a small smile and she turned to him, putting on her pants.“I need that book,” she said.“You mean the memory book?” He gave her a look of concern mixed with confusion. He knew their time was about up, as it always seemed to be, and he would never admit it, but he would miss this. They had broken up almost a hundred years ago, but had spent that long fighting and hooking up and had even gotten back together a few times, only to break up again. It had led to Winnie hating herself for not having the self control to stop wanting Daniel so much. She wanted only for them to be able to be together for real, for him not to constantly break her heart, for him not to be what he had never had a choice in, but she blamed him anyway. At least, she tried desperately to blame him, but found she was blaming it on herself. She pulled on her shirt and nodded, starting to put on her socks and shoes.“That’s the one,” she said.“You know how dangerous the spell is, right, what can happen?” He had seen many warlocks break from the pressure of this spell in his 532 years. This spellbook was known to have memory spells and other dangerous spells most power warlocks wouldn’t even consider to attempt. Most warlocks who tried these spells broke from the inside and become corrupt. The experiment had been witness to many losing their sanity and themselves. Those were the powerful warlocks. The less powerful warlocks who tried these spells could die instantaneously. That wasn’t to say Winnie was weak at all. In fact, Daniel knew personally just how powerful she was, in more ways than one. He shifted his gaze down, before feeling a gentle hand on his chin, making him look into her azure blue eyes. She had finished getting dressed and was sitting in front of his lap so they were touching.“I know what I’m doing, Danny,” she said quietly, pressing a light kiss to his lips before pulling back. She smirked and hummed, “Don’t you have any faith in me?” He smiled softly and pressed his lips to hers one last time.“I have faith in no one else. I assume it’s urgent?” He asked against her lips, feeling their breaths mixing.“Unfortunately,” she murmured and pulled back, trying to sustain some sense of self control. She wiped at her mouth and stood up, straightening her clothes. Daniel stood up after her and managed to find his clothes around the room. He pulled them on swiftly with grace.“Let’s go then.” She nodded, put on a quick alter, and followed him out the door, on their way to the bookstore. Walking into the bookstore brought back so many memories, but Winnie did not have time for that. She shook her head and followed her lover through to the backroom. When they got there, Daniel opened the secret chamber with his secret code that absolutely no one knew, not even Winnie. He went in, picking out the correct book and walking back to hold it out to the warlock.“This is what you want?” She nodded and he handed it her carefully. “Be careful, Winnie.” She smiled softly; it always warmed her heart when he made his worry known. Moving on instinct, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, being careful with the book.“I will, Daniel. Thank you,” she said. He wrapped his own arms around her and ran a hand through her silky hair.“Go save the world,” he said. Chuckling, she pulled away and took a step back. She steadied the ancient book in her arms.“Bye, Danny.” Then, she walked out of the bookstore. This was one of the few times their hookups hadn’t left her feeling totally broken. She knew Daniel cared about her, but their relationship wasn’t going to work. Their not being together wasn’t seeming to work, either. Winnie thought maybe they were meant to be in this strange limbo forever. “Hey, Rylan.” He started, the girl looked up to him. “We are going somewhere to get help, okay? I am going to take care of you guys no matter what.” Zeake held an unconscious Kyle with one hand and the hand of Rylan with the other.“Can you please turn your coat inside out quickly, honey? Do you trust me?” Many questions flowed out of Zeake’s mouth. He was panicked just as much, or possibly more than, the kids themselves. Rylan didn’t respond, only did as he asked quietly and followed him as he walked towards the only place he could trust with his niece and nephew right now. Zeake called for a cab and huddled the children into the dark car. Zeake nodded and took his wallet out of the pocket of his coat that was currently around Kyle. He pulled out an assorted spread of bills and handed them to the man. “Thank you.”“That’s too much, sir,” the driver said.“Keep the change.” Zeake delicately got out of the vehicle and repositioned the teenager in his arms. When Rylan was out of the car safely and following silently behind them, the warrior walked a few buildings down the row of typical apartments. He could hear the waves crashing against the shore in the background. He walked into the building and past the doorman. He headed to the elevator and clicked the number two. The doors slid shut with a ding and the elevator began to rise to the second floor. As soon as the doors opened, he walked down the illuminated hall until he found the apartment labeled “Bronwyn”. Before knocking on the door, Zeake looked down to Rylan.“Are you okay? Can still walk okay?” She nodded and he inspected her to see if she had any wounds of her own. He thought, if anything, she had some minor scrapes from the broken shards of glass shattering from the windows. Kyle seemed about the same, but considering his unconscious state, Zeake was getting worried. He was still breathing, but that didn’t stop Zeake’s concern. He noticed Rylan looking up at her younger brother with a fierce protective look that overcame her empty expression. He recognized it because he felt the same protectiveness when it came to his sister. His sister. Nicolle. Nicki. Nicki, who was- He shook his head, needing to stay in the moment, to protect these kids, not moping about things that he couldn’t change anymore.“It is going to be okay. We just have to go in here to get help, alright? We are going to get your brother healed,” he said, trying to be reassuring. She nodded and Zeake knocked on the door. The warrior moved the boy in his arms to relieve pressure.“Who is it and what do you want?” A familiar female voice rang through from behind the door.“It is Zeake,” he said. The door clicked and just like that, they were opening and walking through the door. Zeake led the way up through the stairs and they walked down the hallway to the correct door. He looked down at the kids again and knocked on the door.The solid door opened, revealing a blue warlock with inky black hair down her shoulders and glitter all over her body and hair. Her makeup was done up how extravagant it normally was. She was wearing a formfitting denim jacket with tight denim pants to match. She was beautiful as ever.“Zeake, what’s going on?” Winnie asked. Zeake bit his lip and set the boy gently down on the couch.“I-” Where was he even supposed to begin? “These are my sister’s kids. They are warriors by blood, but-” His gaze shifted from Winnie to Rylan, who looked curious at the aqua warlock in front of her. Zeake knew it was more her entire appearance, rather than only her skin color. Nicki’s kids knew about the Mystic World. They had seen warlocks before, he was sure. “Kyle- he is hurt. Can you heal him first?” He pleaded with her. She nodded quickly and moved the boy gently so she had better access to assess the boy’s wound. She kneeled beside the couch and closed her eyes, moving her blue fingers to elicit the blue sparks.“He’s fine. Just a minor injury, Zeake. Nothing too bad,” she said, about a half an hour later. The warrior nodded and walked to her.“Thank you so much, Winnie. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?” he asked quietly, not wanting Rylan to hear them. She nodded and pulled a blanket over Kyle.“Darling, if you want a drink or something, just ask, okay?” She directed her question at Rylan, who only nodded, looking worriedly at her brother. Zeake repeated Winnie’s words to the young girl.“He will be fine, Rylan,” he said. Then, the warrior and the warlock walked together to the kitchen.“Okay, Zeake. I did what you asked. Now, tell me. What happened, honey? You look wrecked.” She gazed at him with kind eyes and snapped up two small glasses of liquor. She took a tiny sip of one and offered the other to Zeake. He took the glass gratefully and gulped once before explaining.“Nicolle and Shaine- my sister and her husband- just-” he broke off and swallowed hard. He didn’t have time to be weak anymore. He took another swig of the liquid and berated himself to act like the warrior he was supposed to be. “They just died in a car accident.” “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” She was concerned for his well being. Wondering why he had brought the kids here for a simple healing spell, rather than bringing them back to Marcus, the warlock added, “Death is a terrible and cruel thing. No one deserves it, certainly not those poor kids.”“That is not all.” He mumbled, and swallowed. “Kyle is not my sister’s biological son. He was the result of the rape of one of our mutual friends. Nicolle promised to take him in as her own when he was just a baby and I think Shaine was the only other who knew. No one knows Kyle is even alive. I think our friend, Allison, played it off as a miscarriage. The last thing my sister asked was for me to take care of the kids and not let anyone know that Kyle is not hers. Now, I do not know what to do. I only have so many options.” He was quiet a moment, going over different situations and scenarios. “Can you erase their memories of Mystic World? Make them forget anything mystic they have encountered; their excitement for becoming warriors themselves, their knowledge of experiments, any encounter with warlocks and warriors, all of it. They can remember me, so I can take care of them as secretly as possible. They cannot know who they or their family really were, otherwise it would only cause more problems. Also, we need the Court to believe they died with their parents.” The way he spoke, one who didn’t know him would assume he was emotionless. He sounded as a robot with no feeling, only logic. Right now, though, he had to be strong and do his duty to the kids who deserved so much better. He had to do what he promised to his sister. She held up a finger to silence him and looked sadly at him.“Does Marcus know any of this?” she said.“No, and he cannot know a word,” he said with a shake of his head. He felt the words come from his lips feeling like sandpaper in his mouth. He hated the idea of lying to Marcus. He couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to keep their relationship an honest one, of having to go home and lie about what happened to his family, but this was no longer his choice. He had no choice in this. He had to protect Nicolle’s kids more than anything right now. “I came to you because I trust you and have known you to be a great friend in times of need. Winnie, please. You have to understand. I do not have anywhere else to go.”Thinking on the idea of lying to her best friend was not ideal in any way, but looking at this poor man and all he’d gone through, she could not deny him. All he wanted was to protect his family, after all. The warlock knew he was a good person and loved him for his personality, for his open heart. She remembered first being introduced to the dark haired warrior by her best friend, Marcus, once their relationship had gotten serious. She had had a soft spot for the man ever since.“You don’t have to ask me twice, and while I don’t like to entertain the idea of lying to my best friend, I trust you. I won’t require payment, though. This spell will take time, Zeake. Maybe a few days. Maybe a week. I can’t be sure. Are you sure about this?” He took a moment before nodding. She quirked an eyebrow at the warrior. “What are you doing with the kids? If you aren’t keeping them at your apartment, where will they stay?” He had thought about it and not come up with a better answer than moving them back into their house after their memories were altered. He looked at Winnie with desperate blue eyes. “Could they stay with you until the spell is over?”“I must be with them during the spell anyway, so that is fine. She rested a languid hand on his pale cheek and looked into his eyes. “Though it may not seem like it now, it gets better.” She gave him a small smile and walked out the kitchen doorway to make preparations for the spell.Zeake opened the cupboard and pulled two cups down, filling them with cold water from the silver faucet. Noticing the time was almost midnight, he walked out to the living room, finding Rylan sitting next to Kyle, who was still passed out. He set one water down on the table in front of Kyle and offered the other to Rylan. When she shook her head, Zeake gave her a look and set it in front of her.“Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?” She had to be hungry, right? She shook her head again, still looking at Kyle. “He is going to be fine, Rylan. He has been healed.” Then, he sat down and waited for the warlock to come back. His mind was drawn back to thinking about the accident. How was he supposed to raise these kids in secret? That was not fair to them. He sighed. This was not fair on anyone.Winnie returned quickly enough with an ancient looking, leather bound book in her hands along with supplies for the spell. She looked over at the absolutely exhausted Zeake.“Sweetie, you should go home. There’s really nothing for you to do at this point in time. It’s all magic. I can handle it from here and you looked like you’re going to pass out from exhaustion. Go home to Marcus and try to get some sleep. If you want, you can come back here to see them whenever, but this spell might take a while to fully initiate.”“I do not know how I am to tell Marcus of this and flat out lie to him.” He had been thinking about it, knowing he would need to host a funeral for all four of the Kennedy family members. He needed the Court to be convinced, along with everyone else except him and Winnie. “I do not know that I want to leave them, but I trust you, Winnie. Thank you again.” She smiled slightly and reached her arms out to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her gratefully.“Be careful, Ezekiel Renick,” she said. Pulling away, she smirked and held a finger to her chin as though deep in thought. “Excuse me, it’s Ezekiel Cruz-Renick now, isn’t it?” She chuckled slightly. “Be safe, Zeake.” He had to smile as she said this.“Thank you, Winnie. You too.” He walked over to the kids and ran a hand through Kyle’s hair gently. Then, he sat down next to Rylan and ran a hand through her hair. He didn’t know what to expect, but a hug was not what he thought he would get from this broken girl. She leaned forward and tugged him down for a hug.“I must go for now, sweetie, but I will be back, I swear it. I will take care of you both.” After a minute, before they pulled away, Zeake whispered in her ear, “Happy birthday, Rylan.”“Thank you, uncle Zeake,” she mumbled and nodded. He smiled softly as he pulled away. Then, he leaned to press gentle kiss to Kyle’s head before walking out of the apartment.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

October 11th, 2015

“Death is an angel with two faces” -unknown
 
The morning started off quite terrible for the Kennedy siblings. Rylan’s alarm didn’t go off and she assumed that Kyle’s didn’t either. Rylan got up, showered quickly, and threw her curly hair up into a long ponytail. She ran down the hall and changed into her skinny jeans with a graphic tee.

On her way to her brother’s room, she stopped to look in the floor length mirror hanging in the beige hallway. She gave herself an encouraging wink; it was her morning routine.

“Hey there, beautiful.” She was a little cocky and maybe even vain at times, but it helped get her through the day. Many people compared her to her brother, but they were hardly comparable in any aspect. She was sassy, while he was awkward and shy. She only found herself shy when it came to those super attractive studs. She made her way into Kyle’s room. She could tell he was exhausted from the night before. He had been up all night working on a research paper for English. Not like he ever did any actual work anyways; he always used Google. She felt slightly bad to have to wake him, but they had to get moving. She knew the quick and effective way to wake him up: a slap to the face. Kyle instantly jumped up and had a look of pain and panic on his face.

“That’s what you get for not waking up on time.” She was not his caretaker. Okay, that was a lie. Technically, she was, but only because their parents died in a accident about three years ago. Normally, they would get adopted to another family, but their Uncle Zeake persuaded the judge to place the children under his legal care. The only family they had left was their Uncle Zeake. He was the one who found them in the car crash and brought them to safety. He made a vow to their dying mother that he would not abandon the children. He visited them monthly to give them some money and to insure they didn’t need anything for school. In fact, he had been over the previous day to help them with school supplies. Often, young Kyle would beg Zeake to take them home with him. Like a broken record player, Zeake repeated the fact that they couldn’t come home with him and that he would explain it later when they could understand.

Rylan snickered and left the room, while Kyle crawled out of his bed. He tripped over his clothes on the floor, a mixed pile of dirty and clean, and groaned in anger. Grabbing the first outfit he saw, he shoved his books in his backpack and headed downstairs. He noticed that Rylan had set out a blueberry muffin for him.

“That almost makes up for the rude awakening.” He smiled to himself as he headed out the door to school.

They both managed to survive their first set of classes. Rylan slept through the first three and skipped the fourth to head to lunch early. Once the official bell for lunch rang, Kyle jumped out of his seat and accidentally knocked his books off of his desk. He sighed, irritated, and leaned down to pick them up. Finally, he made his way out the door. He started to push his way down the hall so that he wouldn’t miss out on lunch. It was nacho day, everyone’s favorite. He pulled out his phone to check his texts when he ran into someone.
 
Kyle looked up and saw a cute brunette with dark, brown eyes that seemed to hypnotize him. She had perfectly arched eyebrows to match her shoulder length brown hair, with flawless, tan skin. He blinked a few times and pulled himself out of shock.

“Oh! I am so sorry,” he started, messing with his backpack strap out of nervousness. “I didn’t see yo-”

“It’s okay,” the girl interrupted with a voice like silk, “To be quite honest, I didn’t see you, either.” She giggled softly and looked from the red and white checkered floor to the person who she had just ran into. She saw an extremely attractive guy with messy, brown hair and deep, brown eyes. Not just any attractive guy. It was

him.

She remembered the pictures Isaac had shown her. She was here on a mission, and it wasn’t to achieve a high school diploma.

“Well, in that case, I’m Kyle.” He smiled at her and ran his hand through his messy bed head. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling and neither could she.

“I’m Ashley. I’m new here.” She blushed as she spoke softly.

According to the court, she was considered a ‘failed experiment’; experiment B246 to be exact. Her parents had sold her for a high reward and she had been given to a group of men called the Nécron. After trying her to a chair, they had sent red goop through a tube in one arm and had drained her blood from the other.

When Ashley woke up, she was lying on a bed in what looked to be an abandoned hotel. She felt a stomach wrenching hunger that made her assume they hadn’t fed her in awhile. Suddenly, the door across the room opened and a naked, blood splattered, young girl was tossed through and the door was latched shut again. Ashley’s heart dropped. She wasn’t sure what to think.

“Are you okay?” she asked, approaching the girl with the bed sheet. As she grew closer to the girl, a pungent smell grew stronger in her nose. A sharp piercing feeling radiated throughout her lip. Her hand swiftly moved to feel her lip; it was wet. Confused, she pulled her hand away and looked at it. The tips of her index and middle finger were glazed with a bright red liquid. Ashley could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

“What?” she whispered to herself. “No- no no!” She screamed and backed away from the girl before her. Everything went black and the only thing she could remember after that was red. Everything was red.

Kyle bent his head back as he laughed, pulling Ashley out of her memory. “Ya’ don’t say? I couldn’t tell by your ‘lost puppy’ look.” Ashley blushed even harder.

“Oh.” She looked down as she started to mess with her hair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Kyle trailed off and awkwardly scratched his neck when he realized he’d embarrassed her.

“No, it’s okay. I just didn’t realize it was so obvious.” She laughed awkwardly and shifted her weight. “Isn’t this lunch time?” she asked him nervously.

“Oh yeah!” Kyle exclaimed. He had forgotten his deep hunger when he got distracted by the new girl. “May I walk you to lunch?” Kyle, acting like a gentleman, swooped his arm out as if to show the way. Ashley smiled and followed his lead.

“So, how could you tell I was so new?” Ashley asked nervously to ensure her cover wasn’t blown. Kyle laughed and his cheeks reddened.

“It’s just that we, uh, we don’t have girls like you around here.” She looked at him funny, slightly confused. “You’re just, uh, never mind. Here’s the lunch room,” Kyle said flustered.

“Girls like me?” Ashley questioned with a raised eyebrow. She wasn’t sure if the poor boy was flirting with her, or if he knew what she was. He thought for a second.

“You’re just, you know, really pretty.” He nervously tried to switch the subject as he his cheeks reddened. “Anyways, here’s lunch line A. Lunch line B is for underclassmen. We should go before they close shop on us.” He led her into a cafeteria that was much like any other. It was a public school where the lunchroom was big and compacted with circular tables to fit the most students possible. There were people moving everywhere; some in the two main lunch lines, others already saving seats for their friends at the tables.

Rylan had already gotten her food and was sitting at the table waiting for Kyle. Usually, he was never this late. She was about to get up and look for him herself when she finally saw him in line. She was surprised to see that he wasn’t alone and, in fact, was talking to a girl. She quickly wiped the look of surprise off her face once she noticed the two were headed her way.

“The school’s nachos are pretty great.” Kyle continued as he sat his tray down. “You just have to eat fast; considering they don’t give us enough time.” He automatically sat across from Rylan, but hadn’t seemed to notice her yet. He was too infatuated with the other girl, who was sitting beside him.

“Also, considering you wasted about- oh- ten minutes already,” Rylan cut in, trying to break Kyle’s attention away from the new girl. “You’re late,“ she said flatly as she pushed her tray away. “And who’s this?” she added, nodding towards Ashley.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Ashley,” she said, quickly introducing herself. She had forgotten that anyone else was there, she had been too focused on Kyle. She couldn’t help but find him handsome, especially when he smiled and his brown eyes seemed to shimmer. Along with his evident dimples that made his smile even more irresistible.

Focus Ash

. A voice boomed through her thoughts pulling her back to her assignment. She needed to study his behavior and learn everything about him. Rylan watched the new girl and her actions. There seemed to be something off about her and she couldn’t quite tell what it was.

“I’m Rylan, Kyle’s sister,” she responded matter-of-factly. She figured if her brother was going to have a crush on this girl, she might as well be nice to her. “What grade are you in?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot to ask you that. What grade

are

you in?” Kyle added, finally pulling his attention away from his nachos and focusing back on the girls.

“I’m a junior. What about you guys?” Ashley replied softly and slid her hair behind her ear as she took a small bite of her food. Kyle, finishing up his bowl, answered for both himself and his sister.

“I’m a junior, as well; and Rylan- she’s a senior.” He put his empty lunch tray under Rylan’s and looked back at Ashley. He noticed how much food was left on her plate and wondered if she was going to eat it.

“Yeah, and I’m entirely ready to get out this hell hole,” Rylan added with a laugh. She decided she better eat something before lunch ended. She grabbed a chip from her tray and ate it. With a look of disgust, she got up and threw the food away. Kyle immediately gaped at Rylan with a look of horror.

“How could you! Those nachos are sacred!” he practically screamed at her. Rylan laughed and shook her head.

“You, my brother, need to get out more.” Rylan grabbed her backpack from off the floor and slung one strap over her shoulder. “Alright, well you two have fun.” Rylan started to walk away, but turned back around. “Oh, and nice to meet you, Ashley.” She didn’t want to come off as rude and decided playing a friendly card was the best option.

“You too.” Ashley responded as she watched Rylan leave. She shifted her attention back to Kyle. She noticed his eyes were glued on her nachos. “You want them? Have at it.” Ashley laughed and pushed the tray towards Kyle. Kyle smiled like a kid in a candy store and dug into her nachos without further protest. Hearing the bell ringing to signal that lunch was over, the two dumped their red trays and headed down the hallway.

“So what class do you have next?” Kyle asked, trying to be a friendly tour guide.

“Oh, um, hang on.” Situating her backpack to be more comfortable, she pulled her schedule out of her pant’s pocket and looked for the period that was printed after lunch. “This says that I have English 11 next and that it’s in room B10.” She looked up slightly confused. “Where is room B10?” She was starting to get flustered and could feel her fangs start to poke out again. She internally sighed and cursed at herself, managing to pull them in again. Kyle smiled a little and ran his hand through his hair.

“Well, lucky for you, I have English 11 as well. I’ll walk you there. Oh and the ‘B’ means that it’s in the basement.” Ashley was slightly surprised, but proceeded to follow him down the long, compacted hallway. The walls were once painted white, but had since faded to grey. The floor tiles were once a vibrant red and white checkered pattern, but now were dull and scratched. The rows and rows of lockers lining the walls didn’t seem to help the appearance any. In fact, Ashley was sure they made it worse. Kyle stopped walking and pointed to a classroom door.

“This is English 11 with Mr. Carter.” He shifted the weight of his backpack and held the door open for her. It was fifth period, so the school day was almost over. Out of his six classes, Kyle enjoyed this class the most. It was mainly because he was pretty sure their English teacher was on drugs. Not that he could really judge. He used to be into that kind of thing not too long ago. One could say it was his way of coping. Rylan helped him get out of it, though. She had been a great sister to him and was always so strong. Kyle could never understand how she made it this long with a straight face everyday. He knew she broke down some nights though. He could hear her in her bedroom crying. He knew to never mention it; Rylan didn’t like talking about their parents. Or the night of the accident. Kyle could be seen as blessed or cursed, by the fact that he didn’t remember anything of that night. One minute they were driving down the road all singing along to Rylan and Kyle’s favorite song “I’m a Believer” by Smash Mouth when he heard a loud bang and everything went black. The next thing he knew, they were back at home with their Uncle Zeake and mom and dad were nowhere to be found.

Ashley could tell Kyle was deep in thought and knew better than to interrupt. She decided to try to focus on the lecture when she was overwhelmed with the scent of fresh blood. Realizing just how hungry she was, she was painfully aware that she hadn’t had her normal meal for a day, and now she was starved. This explained her unexpected fang appearances. She looked at Kyle and had to stop breathing for a moment. She could smell the deliciously sweet scent of his warm blood as she blinked. She had to get out of there, otherwise she was liable to end up hurting him and Isaac wouldn’t like that. Kyle finally broke out of his thoughts and looked over at Ashley; she looked uncomfortable.

“Don’t like English?” he whispered.

Ashley shook her head. “I feel really sick.” She half-lied and proceeded to walk out of the class without telling the teacher why. As soon as she reached the hallway, everything went black.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Sometimes it takes the worst pain to bring about the best change.” -unknown

Rylan always skipped fifth period study hall and meandered down to the library where the librarian didn’t give two shits if she was there for a bit. The librarians had taken to Rylan when they’d gotten that damn email that went to the entirety of the staff working at the schools when their parents had been taken out of the picture. She just never felt like going back to class. Now that she thought about it, she rarely felt like doing anything lately. About ten minutes into class time, she noticed a girl stumbling down the hallway. Rylan stood up, ran in that direction, and just barely caught the girl as she fainted. Realizing it was that girl her brother had a crush on, Ashley, she looked around, trying to figure out where the best place to get help was.

Ashley smelled succulent human blood, but could still only see black. Out of pure instinct, Ashley’s fangs lowered and broke the skin on her own lips before she indulged herself. Letting her fangs sink their way into the warm, convenient neck of the unfortunate bystander, Ashley moaned in pleasure. Rylan let out a muffled cry as she felt a sting of pain, rush of adrenaline, and then a pure feeling of ecstasy.

The Nécron never explained to Ashley that she would feel a strong urge for the blood of others. But she quickly learned when she saw what she had done to that poor young girl in her room all that time ago. She’d hated it.

After Ashley drank the thick, rich liquid, she looked at the person she had just drank from and realized it was Kyle’s sister. She was filled with internal conflict and mentally cursed every word she knew. Ashley grabbed the unconscious Rylan and dragged her into the bathroom and locked the door. She looked at Rylan with horror and tried to see she was going to live. Only then did she realize just how much she had really drank from her. Ashley started to panic, her head filled with pressure, and she was swarmed with feelings. She had just killed a person and not just any person; she had just killed Kyle’s sister.

“Oh

god,

” she cried in distress. “This wasn’t part of the plan.” Her breathing became rapid and soon turned into hyperventilation. “Okay, Okay. Calm down Ash. We can handle this.” she mumbled to herself reassuringly. She took a few deep breaths and started to contemplate all of things she could possibly do with the body, when she remembered something. “I can make you live again.” She smiled to herself and nervously cut her own arm with her fingernail; rich, red, blood started to pour out. She gripped Rylan’s mouth open and put her arm up to her face. A few drops of blood fell on Rylan’s lips. Suddenly, Rylan’s pale, grey skin started to have color again and her eyes, once closed, started to blink. Rylan was overwhelmed by the smell of blood, she couldn’t control her instincts any longer. She bit into the bleeding arm and hungrily drank the vampiric blood. Ashley watched in disgust as the fledgling suckled from her arm. As if filled with realization, Rylan quickly opened her eyes. She was overcame with confusing, then horror. Ashley put her hand over Rylan’s mouth as she started to scream.

“No, no, no.” Ashley pleaded. “Please, don’t scream.” She moved her bleeding arm away and watched as the skin reattached itself to heal the wound. Rylan, frightened, stared at Ashley and nodded her head slowly. Ashley removed her hand as if Rylan was a snake about to strike.

“What the hell?” Rylan yelled. She took in their surroundings and recognized the bathroom. She tried to stand up and quickly fell again. Ashley got up to try to help, but Rylan refused. “No. Do not come near me. What the hell are you?” Rylan started to panic. “What did you do to me?” She moved as far away from Ashley as she could until her back was pressed against the stone, cold wall. Ashley could tell how freaked out Rylan was, she was just as freaked out herself. Rylan was staring at her like she was about to run away screaming to tell the authorities that there is a wild carnivore on the loose.

“I am so so sorry. Please don’t freak out. I just, I was so hungry and you were there and I am sorry! I didn’t mean to do it!” Ashley exclaimed. She knew she was going to get in big trouble for this if anyone found out. She started to prepare herself for the punishment later. Rylan interrupted her train of thought.

“You didn’t answer me.” She glared at the girl in front of her. “What are you?” Ashley twinged from the girl’s harsh tone. She stood up slowly and looked anywhere but Rylan’s eyes.

“I’m a failed experiment.” She felt a zing of electricity course through her veins as she said the words. She found the courage to look at Rylan. “And now, so are you.”

Rylan, utterly bewildered, glued her eyes on Ashley. She couldn’t possibly let Kyle ever date this girl; she was a complete psycho. Rylan was barely holding in her laughter.

“A what?” she said. Ashley repeated herself.

“Please, I’m not lying,” she said. Rylan, unable to hold it in any longer, laughed out of disbelief. It wasn’t everyday that she had some freak bite her in the hall, feed her their blood, and then tell her she’s some kind of “failed experiment”. She was pretty sure someone had been watching too many fantasy movies.

“Look, I won’t tell anyone what happened here as long as you don’t, like, bite me again. Ever. Okay?”  Rylan, herself, wasn’t even sure what had just happened. She started to shift her weight on the floor, her strength was quickly coming back. “Now, uh, I really should go. Kyle will start to worry.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” Ashley kind of looked around nervously. Ashley looked down at the floor and then looked back to Rylan, but she was already gone.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

October 19th, 2015

“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.” -unknown

Rebekah sauntered into the coffee shop on a bright Wednesday morning and got in line for her daily donut and latte. She had awoken this morning feeling better than she had in awhile. Lately, she had become more and more numb to everything, spending far too much time moping over the past, but today was different. Today was going okay, so far. She had a few errands she had to run, but other than that, she was determined to enjoy this sunny day.

She picked up her coffee, after having to send it back for the barista to add the caramel she had specifically asked for. Rebekah pulled a five dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it to the barista. She thanked them for their insolence, turned away dramatically, and strode in the direction of the tables. Rebekah always sat next to the windows with the great view. However, today there was someone in her seat. She furrowed her brows and prepared to defend her territory. As she got closer she noticed it was a young, red-headed girl. The girl had her legs crossed under the table and was twirling her finger around her coffee cup as she read a book.

Making eye contact, Rebekah smiled cheekily and walked towards her. The mystery girl had bright red hair and the most compelling face with glowing, green eyes to match. There were layer after layer of adorable freckles sprinkled over her face. Not to mention her marvelous body that could be envisioned from under her tight, black t-shirt that read “Nobody Knows I’m a Lesbian” in large font. Rebekah held in her laughter and continued to admire the girl’s attire. She was wearing dark skinny-jeans that Rebekah could almost guarantee accentuated her butt nicely. She had a thin, silver band with a small ruby placed in the middle around her wrist. To top it all off, she was wearing a leather jacket that gave her a kind of edge. Rebekah approached the other female and stood at the opposite side of the table.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked. The redheaded girl jumped slightly and looked up from her book. Blushing softly, she smiled at Rebekah.

“H-hi,” she said shyly, closing her book and shifting in her seat.

“Mind if I sit with you? You see, I am all alone this morning and I feel the need for some company.” Rebekah grinned at the adorable girl sitting in front of her. The girl’s face reddened, hinting that she wasn’t much for social interactions.

“That seat is empty,” she said, nodding to the chair across from her. She had a soft voice, probably an alto range. Rebekah sat down gracefully, crossing her cheetah print clad legs, and sipping her coffee delicately. Taking in the young girl’s appearance, she cocked her head.

“What’s your name?” Rebekah asked as the girl continued to play with her coffee cup rim.

“Amira,” she replied plainly. “And yours?”

“Rebekah, but some call me Winnie.” She grinned lazily and continued to sip her coffee.

“Why do people call you Winnie if your name is Rebekah?” Amira said looking disgusted towards her coffee. Rebekah chuckled.

“My last name is Bronwyn, so people have just taken to calling me that as a nickname, I suppose.” She paused and raised her perfectly arched eyebrows mischievously. “Do you have any nicknames I should know about?”

“Nope, just Amira. It sounds like a-mirror, but, uh, I promise that’s not what it means.” She looked to the window out of embarrassment. She couldn’t believe that just came out of her mouth.  It wasn’t often that someone actually spoke to her and here she was exposing her obvious social ineptness. Rebekah closed her eyes, shook her head, and giggled at the girl’s innocent response.

“Well, it’s a lovely name.

Amira

. I quite like it. I don’t know that I’ve heard a name like that before,” Rebekah said, surprised. She continued to drink her coffee and ignore the hustle and bustle of the coffee shop around them.

Amira glanced at the girl in front of her. She had long black hair that flowed gracefully and smooth olive skin that glowed in the sunlight. Her eyes were bright blue and her lashes were long and thick. There wasn’t anything about her that Amira didn’t find attractive, but she knew she couldn’t trust just anyone. It had been years since she was with someone serious. She had no intentions of changing that. At least not while she is being hunted.

Amira couldn’t endanger others especially an innocent person like Rebekah. She didn’t know much about the people who were hunting her, but she knew enough that she didn’t want anyone else to have their life on the line. Her thoughts were shook when Rebekah asked her another question.

“I am just positive that I would remember someone like you, did you just move here?” she asked intriguingly placing her perfectly manicured hand under her own chin. Amira shifted her weight in the chair and uncrossed her legs.

“I’ve been checking out all of the little shops around town one at a time. I finally made it to this one. I just moved here not too long ago.” Amira looked from Rebekah to her full cup of coffee.

She didn’t feel the need to share that she had just moved here because she was hunted down and out of her old town. Hunters have been after her family for as long as she could remember. She can still recall the old “bedtime” stories that her mother would tell her as a child. They always talked about the dangerous men who killed innocent fox for sport and pleasure. It wasn’t until she was 13 that she realized she was the metaphorical fox, and she was being hunted.

Amira looked up and left her entrancing thoughts. Rebekah nodded her head in acknowledgement. She had spent a lot of time recuperating here, sometimes with Marcus. She had needed him in her life more and more these days. She felt lonely without him. Thankfully, he was more than willing to help her through these difficult years, even if she wasn’t able to be completely honest with him about everything. Rebekah wrinkled her nose in thought.

“Where did you move from?” Amira looked around uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure if she should tell the truth or not. So instead, she lied.

“I’m from Iowa,” she said. Rebekah could sense the hesitation in Amira’s voice. She had always been good at reading people. It was something one picked up on the older they got. She wasn’t telling her everything and was clearly uncomfortable talking about the topic. Rebekah understood and decided not to push.

“I’ve been there before with a friend of mine. We had a fabulous time. So how are you liking it here in New York? Do you like the big city?” she said. Relieved that Rebekah apparently bought her lie, Amira pretended like she knew what she was talking about.

“Yeah. It was a great place. As for New York; it’s nice as long as you overlook the rude strangers on the street, people who are constantly stealing your taxis, and all of the exhaust fumes,” Amira chuckled to herself.

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right people or been to the right places yet,” Rebekah hummed. She couldn’t help but flirt with the girl. Her recent weakness was red headed women. They had such passion and fire both in life and in bed. She hadn’t thought about settling down since Daniel. She took that relationship as a sign of failure and the need to be alone. She knew that her attitude had changed over the years, but she didn’t care. She used to be shy and conservative, now she was blunt and flirted with whomever crossed her path. She didn’t look for relationships as much as she did distractions.

Amira’s pale face quickly turned scarlet when she, once again, took in how beautiful Rebekah was. She couldn’t be a hunter, right? The thought was mildly troubling. Amira couldn’t trust very easily considering her circumstances. She looked at Rebekah and decided she should wait to risk it.

“Yeah, you’re right. I probably haven’t. So what about you? Where are you from?” she said trying to keep the conversation going to learn more about the other.

“I was born in Norway, but I like to think I am from everywhere and nowhere all at once.” Rebekah went to sip her coffee, only to realize that both her coffee and donut were gone. She strutted over to the trash container closest to them and threw away her empty cup along with the  dirty napkin.

“Do you not like coffee?” Rebekah asked as she sat back down on the white, wiry chair with grace. Amira looked down at her full cup, and then back at Rebekah.

“No, not really. They just threaten to kick me out if I don’t buy something.” Rebekah felt a sense of Mystic in this girl. She wasn’t completely sure, but something seemed special about her. What if Amira wasn’t a human? What if she was a warlock or something else completely?

“So how old are you? You look young enough to be in high school,” Rebekah said.

”Yeah. I kind of skipped today; didn’t feel like going. Oh, and uh, I turned 18 in July. And you?” Amira looked around.

“Oh, a summer baby, hm? Well, I’m twenty,” Rebekah said. “Why’d you skip? If you don’t mind my asking.” She gave a questioning look. Maybe Amira was a human. Or a really talented actress. It wasn’t as if Rebekah hadn’t been fooled before, but she was more aware of the deceit around her now. She’d not let herself be made a fool of again, but she couldn’t exactly come out and ask the girl if she was human or not.

“I just decided I wasn’t in the mood,” Amira replied simply. Her short answer implied there was much more that the girl wasn’t telling her.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. I guess you’re just extremely interesting; you intrigue me,” Rebekah said. It was true, even though she started the encounter just looking for a hookup, this girl somehow fascinated her and Rebekah became interested in getting to know her.

Amira smiled softly and looked up at the other before her. This woman was making it hard not to flirt with her. At the same time, she was making it way too easy. Amira wasn’t that confident in her relationships or her judgement, but she felt that Rebekah had ulterior motives than just being friendly.

“It’s okay. ” She trailed off and paused. “Sorry that I don’t ask many questions myself. I’m not a very talkative person.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.” Rebekah smiled, a little confused, at the endearing girl sitting with her. It had been a long time since anyone had made Rebekah feel like this. That wasn’t to say this was destiny, meeting Amira, or them to suddenly be in love, or anything irrational like that. She didn’t believe in destiny. Not anymore. That naivety had been stripped from her core along with her heart. For a long time, she refused to even think of being romantic, she merely thought about physical attractions and how someone performed in bed. She hadn’t wanted anything else. Rather she believed she truly didn’t deserve anything else, anything real. Maybe she believed it just didn’t exist.

Amira noticed something was different about this woman. She had this need to get to know her, yet she felt so cautious. Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a familiar burning sensation creeping up her arms. She felt dizzy as she looked down and closed her eyes. She tried to tame her abilities, but knew it was no use. Her powers were starting to flare up and she wasn’t experienced enough to control them.

“I’ll, uh, be right back. Too much coffee,” Amira rambled as she got up out of the chair, awkwardly kicking it in the process. Amira ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her face was flushed and she was starting to sweat. Flames were flickering from her fingertips. She took a deep breath and ran into an open stall. She slammed the door shut and locked it. Sitting on the toilet seat, she hoped that it would all just go away.

Amira took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. The burning sensations started to subside as she repeated to herself, “I am more than the flame that is within.” It was an old saying her mother used to help her calm down. Once her body came back to equilibrium she sighed and opened the stall door. Her forehead was covered in sweat and she felt nauseous. She walked to the white sink and began to wash her hands and face. She couldn’t go back out there looking like this. Splashing water on her face, she stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

She jumped and the color in her face faded instantly. There was a group of four men standing behind her. They were dressed in an all black; black cloaks, black masks, black gloves, and a black suit underneath. The men were nothing if not terrifying. Every feature of their body was covered. They set off an unfriendly vibe that frightened Amira. The room had dropped 10 degrees and she felt the urge to scream. Her body froze in place as black smoke clouded around her. She had never been this close to the hunters, let alone did she think they would actually find her.

“Luciole..” one of the men spoke in a language she didn’t recognize as English. His voice was deep and rough. It sent shivers down her spine. Before she could question anything, her world went black and the air was filled with her screams.

Rebekah was sitting at the table awkwardly tapping her nails. She wasn’t sure what was taking Amira so long, she debated leaving. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, it was replaced with an ear-shattering scream coming from the bathroom. Her heart stopped and she shot her eyes towards the bathroom door. She jumped out of her seat and stormed into the restroom. There was nothing but a sulfuric scent and the faint cloud of black fog. Rebekah felt her stomach drop and her body fill with rage. She wasn’t sure if she was angry or terrified, possibly both. She pushed passed the crowd of nosy people and ran back to the table. She grabbed her things and raced out the door; a loud ‘ding’ signaling her departure.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” -unknown
  
Rebekah stormed down the street away from the cafe 
and waved a cab her way demandingly. The breeze blew her black hair and the sunlight shimmered a hint of blue throughout. Her alter was strong, but weakened in times of extreme emotion. She could feel the sun beaming down on her face, but it had no effect on her or her body. She was unusually cold for how angry she felt. Her body had froze with memories and motivation to find Amira. She had recognized the previous scene, at least what was left of it. The black fog, the strong scent; it was all too familiar. She had gone through this before.
 
Many years ago, after the passing of her parents, Rebekah was left to live with her grandmother. Rebekah’s powers hadn’t even started to bloom to their full capacity yet, but her grandmother was there to help her. Rebekah had heard stories about the “dark men” that lurked around the bends of the shadows. Her grandmother used to tell her how they couldn’t trust anyone but each other. Rebekah hadn’t taken the rule as seriously as her grandmother had. So when a man came to their front door in apparent distress, Rebekah didn’t have the heart to turn him away. But rather, she invited him in and offered him tea. She had no idea that she would regret her hospitality for years to come. Rebekah was busy in the kitchen preparing the stranger’s tea when she heard rustling and a loud scream in the next room. She walked quickly into the next room and dropped her cup of boiling water on the ground before her. She saw the stranger with his arms around her grandmother’s neck. Her grandmother stared at Rebekah with a look of remorse and sadness. She knew she would never see her granddaughter again. And Rebekah would be alone to find herself and her powers.

“Fly, lille fugl.” she said her last words to her granddaughter quietly. The words seemed to fly to Rebekah through the air, slicing through the tension and sadness. Rebekah felt the familiar saying hit her like a brick wall.

Before she could process what was happening, her grandmother was gone and the stranger had disappeared with her. Rebekah fell to the ground sobbing, cutting her legs on the broken cup. The room was full of black fog and it smelled horrendous. “Fly, little bird.” her grandmother had said. With this phrase, she would always remind Rebekah that in times of trouble that she had no reason to fear life’s struggles, but rather to use them as her strength to fly. But how could Rebekah possibly fly when her world had been destroyed again? She only survived her parents’ death with the help of her grandmother.
 
Rebekah shook her head of the the past and looked out the window of the taxi cab. She didn’t remember getting in the cab, let alone where she told him to go. She sighed as she felt something drip onto her hand. She quickly wiped tears from her eyes and looked at the taxi driver. He was an older man with brown hair, a mustache and, a beard. He was wearing a blue cap and was bobbing his head and tapping his fingers to the music on the radio.

“Excuse me sir, will you stop at this corner here?” she asked in a small voice. Once the cab pulled over, she paid the man and stepped outside. The sun was still shining and people were still racing by her down the busy sidewalk. Rebekah ran her hands through her hair and look a deep breath. She had to get ahold of herself. There was a girl in danger. Once her grandmother was taken, Rebekah spent years trying to find her and traveling to find those who might know something about people disappearing similarly. She also spent her years to come not trusting anyone but herself; she learned her lesson last time.

Around the age of 16, Rebekah almost gave up in her searches. It had been nearly four years and she still hadn’t discovered much on the disappearance of her grandmother. She received a tip from one of the men at her regular pub. She went to pubs to distract herself from her failures. It eased the pain and no one asked questions about her age. She was ledin the direction of a man named Marcus Cruz, he was supposedly a powerful man who knew a lot about a lot. It wasn’t much, but it was the best shot Rebekah had had in months. Once Rebekah arrived to the supposed location of the mystery man, she felt an uneasy sensation.

Rebekah wandered down the sidewalk with anxiety starting to build up. Why was she even still looking for this guy? He was clearly never going to show up. He was a made up figment she’d been lied to about and had been naive enough to believe. She was never going to find her grandmother or find out what happened. Her grandmother had done so much for her, taking her in and helping her with her powers. Rebekah had never proved to be anything other than a useless kid who kept getting people she cared about killed. She was doing nothing productive to find her grandmother. As she tried blinking back the burning tears streaming down her face, she ran headfirst into someone. Literally. She fell to the snow-covered ground and opened her innocent eyes up at the figure. He was a tall man with hazel eyes and stubble on his face. His hair was a brown, messy mop on top of his head; however, it still managed to look good on him. He was wearing a long scarf wrapped around his neck and a heavy brown coat that protected his whole body from the winter temperatures.. He offered his hand and spoke with concern obvious in his voice.  He looked down at her red, puffy face and the fact that it was snowing pretty hard.

“Are you alright? It’s okay. Don’t be frightened, but your alter has gone away.” He took in her slim, shaking body, her wide, deerlike eyes, and he suddenly felt a strong responsibility to help this girl, who could not be over the age of eighteen. He smiled awkwardly and offered his hand again. She sniffed and grabbed it cautiously. He could tell she was paranoid and shaken up. As he helped her up, she was about five or so inches shorter than him, which was still fairly tall for a young girl. She looked him up and down, completely dumbfounded by his strange attire. She continued blinking like a maniac as he repeated himself gently.

“Are you alright?” he said. She nodded weakly and took a deep breath as she wiped her thin sleeves across her face. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and when he really took the time to look at her, he was struck by how terribly beautiful this girl was. She was obviously a warlock. She was completely flustered and reminded him of himself as a child. He briefly remembered his awful childhood. He remembered all the things that had happened. Marcus looked at the girl again, breaking himself out of his reverie.

“Hey,” he looked at her and took off his altar to show bright-green, glowing, cat eyes. “It’s alright,” he could see her visibly shaking from fright, “It’s okay. I’m different, too. See? I can help you,” he said softly. She looked at his eyes and sniffed as he said, “Alright? You are shaking. You need to go inside and get warm. Do you want some hot cocoa?” She looked slightly scared again and shook her a little.

“I have to keep looking for this mysterious guy I’m not even sure exists and- and my grandmother deserves so much better than me and why do I keep getting people killed?” she cried out, unable to stop the tears and the panic. He wanted to comfort her because she looked like she was going crazy with guilt and pain, but he didn’t know her and she didn’t seem to want physical comfort right now. He gave her a confused look at her rant.

“Mysterious guy?” he said. Rebekah nodded and wiped her face.

“Some warlock guy that those nasty men from the bar probably made up to mess with me, Marcus Cruz.  I don’t know how I am to continue this search for my grandmother when I have no idea what I am doing and I-” she rambled with more tears escaping painfully. He interrupted her with a reassuring smile.

“I know of Cruz. I can help you find him, if you wish?” he offered with a hopeful glance that the poor girl would come inside and not choose to freeze to death out here. He wanted to get both of them inside. She nodded slowly and mumbled an affirmative.

“Good, because I was not about to let you stay out here shivering. You know we are in the midst of breaking the record of lowest temperature in 80 years,” He added, “Well, then. Come on, kitten.” He looked at her and they started walking. While Rebekah knew she should be being more cautious about going into random men’s homes, she honestly didn’t care much right then. It was cold. Alive or dead, she really didn’t have a preference just then. She was ready to give up hope but this man might be the only hope she had right now. She followed him willingly, knowing it might very easily be a trap. She didn’t care. She followed.

Once they made their way to the apartment, he unlocked the door and opened it for her before following her inside.
 
Rebekah had already lost more than one person due to this mysterious group of men. She couldn’t let it happen again. She regretted the thought that came to her mind. She groaned, swallowed her pride, pulled her cell phone out, and dialed the only people she knew who knew more about this situation than her. The warriors. They were similar to the mortal’s version of police, except for mystic issues.

Once Rebekah explained the situation, the respondent on the phone told her to hang tight and two warriors would meet her at an unpopulated location. Thankfully, it was within walking distance. Rebekah started her way through the groups of people. She grimaced at their many different smells and fashion sense. None of which were enjoyable. She hated some of the mortal fashions floating around.

Rebekah finally arrived to the “meeting spot” and tapped her fingers against her thigh as she waited. She looked down the road to spot two warriors, as promised, walking her way. She groaned with disgust. Most warriors were entitled, arrogant, rich assholes. She hated having to deal with them, but she couldn’t continue to bother Marcus with all of her problems.

The two warriors seemed to walk in pace with each other. One was wearing a usual tight, silver, latex uniform that accentuated her strangely proportioned figure. Rebekah know immediately that she was pregnant. She wasn’t sure why it was one of her powers, but it was a warlock thing. The other wore his tight silver gear like it was as natural as his own skin. They were both tall, tan and had platinum blonde hair. Their toned muscles were revealed by the gear. Rebekah noticed them staring intently at her and rolled her eyes. The girl snickered and turned her hazel eyes to her shrugging partner. The boy looked at Rebekah with a sureness in his voice and matching hazel eyes, their overwhelming resemblance led Rebekah to assume they were siblings.

“Warlock?” As if it was even a question; they all knew it was obvious what Rebekah was. That was another annoying habit that the warriors held, they could see through alters like a screen door. So they clearly saw the truth behind Rebekah’s alter that was currently covering her blue skin from human eyes. The warriors wore them as well, to cover their iridescent, white glow and weapons. They wanted to blend in with the mortals to avoid raising question.Their spells were strong enough to make them invisible when they needed, although it would only last for a certain amount of time. Warriors were powerful. They had more intense spells than warlocks were allowed by the court. This was thanks to a group of irresponsible warlocks from the past who tried to overthrow the court with their abilities.

“Well, fancy meeting you, too, but I am on a certain mission that happens to be much more important than the both of you.” Rebekah rolled her eyes and tried to control her temper.

“Pardon me, but I believe you called us. Am I correct?” He stopped and gazed at her with an annoyed expression. Rebekah begrudgingly looked at the boy.

“First off, don’t believe that my calling you was my first option. I only associate with your kind when there isn’t another option. Secondly, I think the Nécron struck again.” Then, seeing the look in his eyes, she added quickly with a dark glare. “Want to be rude to me now, little warrior?” He promptly interrupted.

“When did this happen? Do you know what type of mystic they took?” He kept throwing all these irritating questions at the Rebekah. She sighed, she did not have time for this. Anything could be happening to Amira right now and this guy wouldn’t shut up. Rebekah felt a strong urge to protect the girl she had only met today. She had no idea why. Why did she have to feel the need to find and save her? Why couldn’t she just let it go? She has most definitely had enough stress in her life. Why add more? Rebekah sighed. She knew she couldn’t just let this girl be taken. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

The female warrior just stood to the side of her brother, holding one hand on her hip and the other on her stomach. Rebekah looked from her stomach to her face. As they made eye contact, the girl quickly removed her hand from her stomach. Rebekah smirked and gave the male warrior a dumbfounded look.

“For the love of God, why are you asking so many questions? Can we just go and save the woman I called you here to save?” If she had known they would be wasting her time like this, she would have tried to track Amira herself.

“What is your name?” he asked, ignoring her once more. This guy was really starting to piss her off. They needed to leave

now

.

“Rebekah Bronwyn,” she snarked at him. “No, can we please leave?” she practically growled at the warriors. They really didn’t have time to waste. Every second spent babbling about facts was another second Amira was in danger.

“I have heard of you before, warlock.” His voice itself was quite the obnoxious type. He seemed to be the cocky kind of person who knew exactly how attractive they were. His sister beside him still hadn’t spoken a single word. Rebekah couldn’t help but assume this is how it always was between them.

“Tell me how we can save her,

warrior

,” Rebekah enunciated, trying to annoy him enough that he’d stop asking what seemed to be pointless questions. “We are running out of time.” The warriors looked to each other and then back to the warlock.

“Very well, but silence yourself and maybe we will get something done here.” He looked at her seriously. Rebekah held back a laugh. She was the one who needed to be silenced? She was holding herself back from decking his highness. “We clearly do not have time to waste,” the male warrior continued as a breeze blew by. Both warriors instinctively went to fix the appearance of their hair. “We are going to need to perform a tracking spell, and you will have to aid us.” Rebekah looked towards both warriors whose alter was starting to fade. Their luminescent white glow started to shine brighter, almost blinding her.

“Let’s do this,” Rebekah stated holding out her own glowing, blue hands.
 
Amira woke up in a pitch black room. Noticing that she couldn’t see anything, she tried to move her feet, but they felt as if they were tied. She could wiggle her toes and her fingers; that was a good sign. She tried to look around in the dark to see if she could see anything. She couldn’t. Then, she heard a door slam.

“Hello? Who’s there?” she asked softly. Out of nowhere, fluorescent lights came on above her and she blinked, trying to focus her eyes. She saw the familiar dark figured men.

“Good, you’re awake,” one of them said in his same low, gravelly voice. He seemed to be the only one that spoke. The others merely stood there and didn’t move.

“What do you want with me?” she asked softly. Her heart was pounding and the floor was clouded with the black fog that seemed to follow them everywhere.

“We know what you are,” He paused for dramatic effect. “ We need your powers,

Amira

.” The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. She could almost throw up. She looked at him as though he was crazy.

“What? What are you talking about? Let me go!” She screamed, struggling against the tough, brown rope. The man laughed at her insolence towards the situation. His laugh was like nails on a chalkboard that somehow signaled the others to laugh, almost mocking her.

“You don’t know who we are, little girl? How shocking. I thought we were better known than that.” He faked a hint of sadness in his voice. “We need the blood of a natural born Luciole Rouge.” It was that unfamiliar name again. Amira had never heard those words before, but they seemed to flow right off of the mystery man’s tongue.He was right. She didn’t want the power, but what she wanted even less was to allow him to have it.

“You’ll never get it,” she said and he sneered at her.

“I thought we’d do this the easy way, but I guess not.” The man approached Amira and moved to place his hand on her head, when they were interrupted by a loud bang.

The loud bang happened to be the basement door being kicked down as two teenagers dressed in all black whom Amira didn’t recognize darted after the old man. The woman Amira thought she recognized as a very turquoise Rebekah rushed to Amira and began to untie her. Once the warriors got the man under control, Rebekah assisted Amira upstairs and tried to get her outside the sketchy building.

“Are you okay?” she asked with concern evident in her azure eyes as she stared at Amira. Shaken up, Amira looked at Rebekah with gorgeous, green eyes full of confusion.

“Rebekah?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Rebekah gave Amira a bewildered look for a moment, wondering why the hell she was looking at her as if she were naked. She was almost positive she wasn’t naked. She looked down at herself to make sure she was wearing clothes. Then, she widened her eyes in realization.

“Oh,” she paused. “Yeah. It’s me, darling.” She gave her a small smile. When Amira almost fell again, Rebekah grabbed Amira’s pale hand with her own blue one and put her arm around Amira to help her up the squeaky stairs and to a chair.

Amira looked at her with interest and what Rebekah interpreted as shock in her bright green eyes. “What are you?” she asked softly.

“You just got kidnapped by some guy who apparently wants to experiment on you and you want to know what I am? You must be really into me.” Rebekah smirked. “I’m a warlock. And you, mademoiselle, are an experiment.” She kneeled down next to Amira. “I usually wear an alter out in public, so I look normal to others, but this place has a powerful anti-magic spell cast upon it and my magic is no match for his. I had no choice but to drop my alter.” Amira, intrigued, looked at Rebekah. She laughed a little and looked down.

“No. I’m not an experiment, I’m a freak,” she said quietly.

“I look like this and you are calling

yourself

a freak? You sure you didn’t hit your head or something?” She grinned at Amira with affection.

“I am. I can’t control these-” she paused, searching for the right words, “these powers or whatever you call them. They come and go whenever they please.” Amira continued to look down.

“Hey, I’m sure someone can teach you to use them. Most powers like that calm down with time and become normal to us. Eventually, you’ll be able to control them,” Rebekah tried to be reassuring. “If it helps, I had to go through this when I was a kid. You see, warlocks have different maturing powers and mine just hated me. I was always shooting people with fire, and trust me, honey, that never ends well, but it gets better. In fact, if you wish, I’m sure I could help you learn to use them properly.” Looking up at Rebekah, Amira had many emotions rushing through her head.

“You’d do that?” she asked.

“Of course.” She paused and looked slightly pained for a moment. “Are you saying no other warlock has ever offered to train you?” Amira looked confused.

“I’ve never met any warlocks.” she paused, “Well, until you. I mean, I don’t even know what those guys were that saved me from that old man.”

“Oh, those are the warriors. I had to call them to come help. There is only so much I can do anymore, legally, at least. Normally, experiments are watched by warlocks, and then trained to make them less dangerous, shall we say,” she said the last words slower and cautiously.

“Oh. How did they know about me?” she asked questioningly and then it hit her. “Do you think I’m dangerous?” Amira asked softly. Just as the question slipped off of her lips, the warriors came up the stairs, dragging the bound man behind them. Amira flinched at the sight of the old man. Rebekah looked at Amira and held her hand.

“I honestly haven’t seen your powers in action, Amira, but even if they are dangerous, they won’t be for long.” She looked at the warriors and stated. “I never caught your guys’ names.”

The boy looked up and saw them all staring at him. Puffing out his chest, he said with pride, “I am Cole Hathaway of the New York Warriors and this is my sister, Maryssa.” Maryssa glared at him.

“Thank you,

brother

,” she said rudely, “but I am perfectly capable of introducing myself.”

“Excuse me. Not that I wish to interrupt any sibling drama; I do, however, wish to get rid of this old hag in desperate need of some deodorant.” She paused and glared at the old man. “Seriously, do you ever shower?” Rebekah sniffed the muggy air as a dramatic flair and continued. “Anyway, are you guys going to take care of him? I can take Amira home.” She glanced at the warriors. Amira looked around the room.

“Thank you guys for saving me and thank you, too, Rebekah,” she said. Rebekah smiled. She kind of liked the way her real name rolled off Amira’s lips. She told herself now was not the time to think about that.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“Anytime, gorgeous.” Cole smiled charmingly. “If you ever need me again, you know where to find me,” he said with a wink. His sister made a gagging noise and dragged the old man out of the house. Cole stood there, looking at Amira. Raising her eyebrows, Rebekah stood there, taking in the current situation.

“Don’t even try it,” she mumbled under her breath. Cole looked at her as if she had a rotten fish on her face.

“What are you mumbling about over there,

warlock

?” he said snarkily.

“Okay, first off: Stop calling me warlock; I have a name. Second: I don’t care if you think you’re better than everyone, that does not give you the right to be a total asscrown. Third: just stop talking. Every single time you open your big mouth, you remind me of a dying cow. Thanks.” She smiled at him. Rebekah was getting increasingly more irritated with the stupid, too-good warrior. She was reminded of why she tried her hardest not to associate with them. They were all stuck up and over-confident assholes. Amira laughed and looked from Rebekah to Cole.

“Uh.” She paused awkwardly. “Thanks, Cole, but, uh, I don’t play for your team.” Rebekah could not hold back her burst of laughter as she gave Amira a look, succeeding to get her consent to put her arm around Amira to help get her home. She did not even look back as she spoke coolly.

“Goodbye, little Warriors,” she said. Amira turned around and waved goodbye to the siblings who saved her life.

“Thanks again,” Amira said, leaning heavily against an oddly strong Rebekah. Maryssa turned to her brother with a devilish grin on her face.

“Wow, I do not think I have ever seen you get get rejected like that before!” She started laughing. He looked at her with a sarcastic scoff, and turned to walk down the dark, dingy alley towards their home.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

October 21th, 2015

“A good destiny is when two people find each other without even looking.” -unknown
 
Arriving at the school, Rylan saw her brother talking to Ashley in the middle of the crowded courtyard. She needed to do just the same, talk to Ashley and figure out what the hell she had done to her. Oddly enough, standing about 50 feet away, Rylan could hear their conversation as if she were right next to them. Kyle seemed to be questioning Ashley about why she had skipped the rest of school. Ashley lied easily, almost too easily. She told him that she felt sick and went to the nurse to lie down for a while. Kyle seemed to genuinely believe her, causing Rylan to shake her head incredulity. She rolled her eyes and tried to play it smart. By controlling her speed to walking, rather than running, she helped herself go around the courtyard unnoticed. She passed a few trees on her way, their leaves having already changed color. They'd only been changed a few weeks now. Fall was Rylan's favorite season. She loved the way the different colored leaves laid on the ground like a warm, welcoming blanket. She also loved the smell of Autumn; the pumpkins, leaves, hay, and warm apple cider. Of course everyone on the streets had their houses all decorated for Halloween in a little over a week. All the school kids were already going crazy ready for that special night once a year when you got to be somebody else. The sensations of Fall gave Rylan chills.

“Finally! Where have you been?” Kyle said, with a look of shock and agitation as soon as she made it to them. Picking up his heavy backpack from the ground, he swung it over his shoulder and watched as Rylan thought her answer through. Frowning, Rylan flipped her dark, brown hair sassily.

“Oh, hush. Don’t get all worked up; you were perfectly fine talking to Ashley. I had something to do and now I’m back, so we can go home.” She made a clearly impatient noise and looked at him as if to telepathically tell him this was important. Kyle stood unmoving next to Ashley.

“Actually, I asked Ashley if she would like to come over.” Rylan looked at the girl standing beside her brother. She had weird vibes about her. Was she as innocent as she acted? Rylan could not tell. Her gut told her that she was hiding something, but Rylan ignored it for now. She hardly had proof of anything truly suspicious. Ashley’s dark brown hair blew in the cool breeze and splayed her hair along her face. She returned Rylan’s knowing stare, as if they were both mentally replaying the situation in the bathroom together.

“Great. I have some more questions to ask her. Let’s go,” Rylan said. Looking to Ashley, Kyle nodded towards the vamoosing Rylan and decided to follow her home.

The sun peeked around the clouds and illuminated the deep, blue sky. The air smelled of car exhaust and factory smoke. Rebekah’s hair was blown in the subtle wind as she kept ahold of Amira’s hand. They walked down a cracked sidewalk in the opposite direction of Cole and Maryssa. Only then did Rebekah remember she was visible and left for the humans to see her true, blue form. She snapped her fingers causing an eruption of aqua sparks to form, revealing her alter: pale skin and inky, black hair. She had forgotten put the alter on after leaving endless meetings with the warriors and the court. It had been days of non-stop interrogation of what happened and who and where. Rebekah was exhausted. She doubted she would be in any real trouble with the Head Court. She may get by with a slap on the hand, for she was close friends with the Headmaster.
 
Cole and Maryssa walked down the street passing by the school when they saw a group of three teenagers heading their way. One girl had dark hair and tan skin. Her beauty seemed to encapture Cole. He slowly broke from his trance to the icy, cold glare that was burning through him. He looked to see who was staring at him so intensely only to find it was the other girl in the group. She was definitely a mystic if she could see him and someone who clearly didn’t like him. Not a warlock, no glow. Probably some experiment. The warrior looked at the girl who’d not glared at him and smiled charmingly. Maryssa burst out laughing at his lame attempt at being a womanizer.

Distracted by the guy’s annoyingly perfect hair, Rylan didn’t see the giant pothole in the ground. Unknowingly, she stepped right into it and fell on the hard asphalt, falling on her ankle in an angle she knew probably shouldn’t be possible.

“Ow! Shit!” she yelled, catching the attention of everyone around including the annoyingly attractive boy she’d made eye contact with before her fall. It was his fault, anyway. She crawled away from the hole enough to sit up. She looked down at her black skinny jeans and fought the urge to cry. Rylan wasn’t a cry baby. She had gotten way over that. They’d had a rough start to life and she didn’t cry easily anymore, but whatever she’d just done to her ankle was making her tear up. Damn this pain. Crying made her weak. “Oh, no, no, no.”

Upon hearing a familiar voice screaming, Kyle stopped talking to Ashley and ran over to his sister, his puppy dog face clenching as he looked down to his sister who was clearly in a ton of pain.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his worry showing in his increasing volume. He squatted down beside her and noticed she was actually in tears. The only time he knew of his sister crying was dealing with their past every so often and some very intense pain that this must be. Of course, now he was all kinds of worried. Cole figured if the teenagers could see him anyway, why worry about not helping the lovely lady? He easily left his own sister behind and instantly ran over to the girl to try to help her up.

“Here. Let me help you.” He looked at her stunning, brown eyes and smiled. “Are you okay?” Rylan gazed up at the guy before her and her mouth forced her to smile up at him on instinct. Stupid mouth. He was one of those guys who was beautiful and knew it. He was okay looking, she guessed. He had shaggy, blonde hair and eyes that were a swirl of mud-brown and light-green. His odor of cologne and sweat mixed like ecstasy to Rylan, but she was suddenly brought back to reality when Kyle waved in front of her face.

“I’m fine! Or I was fine until I ripped my favorite pair of skinnies! God, nothing makes my butt look as good as these jeans.” Rylan seemed to be holding in her emotions. Cole and Kyle couldn’t tell if she was actually upset about a pair of jeans or was just playing with them. “Oh, and not to mention I think my ankle is broken!” She paused and practically growled down at the pothole. “Damn holes. Who does that? Just leaves a hole laying around!” She sighed with defeat and looked down at the rip in her jeans. Cole chuckled a bit at this and chose to help the girl off of the ground. Her jeans were indeed ripped and dusted with dirt. He put his arm around her and helped her up slowly. Kyle watched his sister get up without any assistance and was struck severely confused.

“What the hell?” Kyle asked with wide eyes.

Ashley ran over and held the other side of Rylan to cover up what was really happening; it was obvious Kyle was not aware of what was transpiring. Cole had only just realized what happened; the boy could not see him. Who and what was this girl? What was he supposed to do? He could either talk to the girl and make her sound completely insane to the boy, or he could help her up and walk away. He decided there was more fun in the first option.

“Do you need me to take you to a hospital? I could carry you,” Cole said. She looked the boy and smiled, her cheeks flushed with purely pain. Definitely not because of this annoyingly handsome boy helping her.

“Please. Kyle, you can take Ashley home. She doesn’t need to be dragged along with us,” Rylan asked them. Ashley looked at the warrior with curiosity. She knew what they were. Their kind hated all other Mystic beings, most definitely experiments. Being an extraordinarily egotistical species, they simply assumed they were better than everyone else. Ashley looked at them with her brown eyes and then back at Kyle. His gaze was focused on his sister, who had gone pasty in the face.

“Who are you talking to, Rylan? I need to take you to the hospital. I think you hit your head pretty hard.” He started walking toward her. Cole looked across the street at his sister, she looked annoyed at his sudden involvement in the situation. Then, he looked back at Rylan.

“Should I leave you with them? You can just nod if you want me to. I do not want them to think you are crazy. Or if you prefer, I can help you get to the hospital faster,” he offered once more. Rylan looked at her brother and to Ashley. She realized her brother couldn’t see the guy beside her and wondered if only she could see him. Maybe she had hit her head? Maybe she was going crazy. She was seeing things, this stupidly stunning boy being one. The breeze had started to pick up and the leaves on the trees rattled soothingly. She nodded.

“Thank you,” she whispered. He smiled a little and gave her to Ashley, trying to make it look as inconspicuous as possible. He watched as they hurried off to the closest hospital. He walked back to his sister whose face was filled with boredom.

“Really Cole? You cannot leave a pretty face alone, can you?” She laughed and started to head back to their home. Cole looked back at the departing group of teens and then to his sister.

“You know what, I will be home late tonight,” he said as he ran after the teenagers to make sure they were safe.