《Daemon Born》 Prologue: The Accident Author''s Note: Hi all, I started writing this story some years ago and recently picked it back up again. The first few chapters will thus be quick updates and then drastically slow down, but hopefully your lovely reviews will keep me motivated and on track! ;) And as I want to make a career out of my writing, that is something I need to be able to do. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and I will happily accept any constructive critism. Oh, and don''t worry, only the Prologue will be short! -Tahari ¡°Mom are you sure you don¡¯t need to go to the hospital?¡± I turned my head from the steering wheel of our blue jeep to look over at her in the passenger seat next to me. ¡°It¡¯s only a small bump on the head, Jess, nothing to worry over. Why don¡¯t you just keep your eyes on the road and concentrate on your driving, you¡¯re starting to drift over the line. Maybe you should pull over and let me drive, you¡¯re still not used to driving at night.¡± With a muffled curse I quickly brought my eyes back to the front of me and swerved the car out of the opposing traffic lane, ¡°Mom, stop trying to downplay your injury, a concussion is serious business. You¡¯re not driving. Besides, I do have my license now. The state of Washington obviously believes I¡¯m fully capable of driving on my own.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t test you at night,¡± she retorted dryly. Her phone beeped and out of the corner of my eye I could see her open it to read the new text message. ¡°So just when were you planning on telling me about this trip to Seattle you¡¯ve apparently been planning behind my back? Or were you just hoping I wouldn¡¯t find out?¡± I winced, ¡°I was going to talk to you about it, Mom, I was just waiting until after you finished that big project at work. You¡¯ve been so stressed out over it I didn¡¯t want to give you any more worry.¡± Sincerity oozed out of my voice. ¡°And you wanted to wait until I was in a better mood, hmm. Maybe you were hoping I would forget all about that debacle at your school last week.¡± She accused dryly, her lip quirked in amusement, ¡°Did you also plan on informing me that you¡¯d invited your boyfriend along?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to kill Shelly!¡± I muttered under my breath. Why had I thought I could sneak this past my mom again? ¡°Oh don¡¯t blame Shelly. You¡¯ve known for years that girl can¡¯t keep a secret to save her life. She¡¯s as transparent as glass. Although I can¡¯t say it isn¡¯t useful.¡± she grinned at me. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t someone with a concussion be less coherent?¡± ¡°Guess not. Now don¡¯t try and change the subject.¡± ¡°Look mom, Jeremy¡¯s a gentleman, he wouldn¡¯t try anything without my permission.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°It¡¯s how much you¡¯d permit that worries me, ¡°she muttered. ¡°And anyways,¡± I continued louder, pretending I hadn¡¯t heard her comment, ¡°Shelly, Amy and Hank would all be going too, so it¡¯s like we¡¯d have our own personal chaperones.¡± I turned my head fully to fix pleading puppy-dog eyes on her, ¡°Please mom, I really want to go.¡± As I begged, my attention again off the road, I didn¡¯t notice as the car began to swerve for a second time into the oncoming lane of traffic, only this time it wasn¡¯t empty. ¡°Jess watch out!¡± I snapped my eyes back to the road only to be blinded by the lights of a semi-truck barreling straight at us, his horn now blaring. I panicked, turning the wheel too sharply to the right and throwing the car forward in a jarring full speed roll over. Time seemed to slow down as we spun end over end, light dancing on the walls and the odds and ends in the car being thrown about. My beautiful mother was screaming, her grey eyes thrown wide in fear and her blond curls bounced everywhere, dancing crazily from the forces. Terror filled every cell in my body and I was vaguely aware of my mouth screaming incoherently, while my mind screamed for someone, something, anything to save us. And from somewhere deep inside of me, from a place I¡¯d never before even knew existed, I felt something answer. It was like a bubble bursting out of me. Warmth flooded through my veins from that hidden center and dust motes of blue light seeped from my pores. They gathered together, coalescing into a shield that glowed, surrounded me, and slowly expanded outward. Then the truck hit. In a distant corner of my mind I realized that the driver had obviously tried to avoid us because instead of being hit head on by the cab, we were instead struck by one of the huge trailer wheels. It crunched into our roof at full force, crumpling it like tissue paper, and only met resistance where it encountered the strange blue shield around me. In horror, I watched as the bubble expanded too slowly to fully cover my mom before the tire¡¯s impact. The roof crunched into her head with a sickening sound, and then suddenly, the glowing shield was there, protecting her from further harm. The world came to a halt as I saw blood pouring out from her dented head, cracked white skull poking through hair streaked red, the backdrop of pale blue light highlighting it in perfect contrast. Tiredness crashed like a wave over me and the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious was the blue glowing shield, flickering out. * * * Dressed in an expensive suit and tie, a tall man strode confidently out of the Yakima Police Station. He slipped a pair black shades out of his pocket and onto his nose, flipped open his cell phone and dialed his superior, ¡°Sir, it¡¯s Hastings here. I believe we¡¯ve found a live one. Jessica Langden, age sixteen. She and her mother, a Cathy Langden, were involved in a rollover collision with a semi-truck that the officers on scene have informed me should have been fatal. Their vehicle was a complete wreck, except for a strange area of undamaged space centered around the young driver. The girl received only superficial injuries and her mother, despite a critical blow to her head, was also far less injured then she should have been. I saw the pictures, sir. The top of their jeep was directly impacted above them by one of the truck¡¯s large tires at 50mph. No one should have been able to survive that.¡± A smooth baritone voice exited from the phone, ¡°Where is the girl now?¡± ¡°At the local hospital with her mother.¡± ¡°Alright, get Green placed as one of her mother¡¯s nurses to keep an eye on her. If she shows any signs of being an awakened, you know what to do.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Chapter 1: Awakened Chapter 1: Awakened ¡°You know it¡¯s a miracle you both survived that accident,¡± the large black woman enthused as she changed out my mother¡¯s IV bag, ¡°I was completely amazed when I heard you¡¯d been hit by a semi and came through with only scrapes and bruises.¡± It certainly was amazing, I thought, but I wasn¡¯t sure it was a miracle. I¡¯d had a lot of time to think this past week in between the police statements, lawyer talks, and strange occurrences that had been happening around me, and although all of it was incredibly difficult or simply unbelievable for me, those things were far easier to consider than my mom¡¯s condition. Glancing at her, lying pale and unresponsive in the hospital bed, she looked strange and alien to me, all her beautiful hair shaved off, replaced by bandages and electrodes. A real Frankenstein¡¯s bride she would have joked to me if she could, but she couldn¡¯t, ¡°I only wish my mom had been as lucky as I.¡± ¡°At least she¡¯s still alive honey. Where there¡¯s life there¡¯s still hope.¡± the nurse spoke with a strong Southern accent, strange to hear in the Pacific northwest. I snorted despairingly, ¡°Slim hope at best. The doctors have already warned me that her prospects for waking up from the coma aren¡¯t good. All because of that damned concussion she got before her more serious injuries.¡± And all because of me, I added silently in my head. ¡°Honey, I know it seems like the end of the world right now, but it really could have been worse.¡± A light bulb exploded on the other side of the room and I flinched. Not again! The nurse looked at me with what seemed to be an understanding pity, like she knew that I was the cause of its destruction, but I knew I was just being paranoid. There was no way she could possibly know that. ¡°I¡¯ll have to get maintenance to check for something causing power surges in this area. That¡¯s the third one this week.¡± she commented casually as she left the room. The third one, and that wasn¡¯t even including the cracked vases and strange winds that had started occurring around me in response to my volatile emotions. Some of the nurses had even started whispering about ghosts! I knew something had happened to me during that accident, but I still had no clue what it was despite coming up with a ton of crazy theories. Perhaps I had managed to tap into some sort of energy field in my desperation and was still somehow connected to it now. Maybe my brain had unlocked a hitherto unknown potential for telekinesis. Heck for all I knew, it could actually be some sort of God-given gift, although I doubted I was pious enough for that. I¡¯d tried to consciously summon whatever it was to the surface, but it didn¡¯t want to cooperate. It was just so frustrating! Here I had some kind of amazing power at my fingertips and I couldn¡¯t even access it, didn¡¯t even know what it was! I wished there was some kind of manual or someone who I could ask questions of. I doubted I was the first to have this happen to me, not with all the tales of magic and supernatural abilities that existed. There had to be more like me out there somewhere. I just didn¡¯t know how to find them. A knock at the door interrupted my musings, ¡°Excuse me, is this the room of Cathy Langden? I¡¯m looking for Jessica Langden.¡± The man at the door was tall, impeccably dressed in a charcoal grey suit, with laugh lines around the eyes and wavy brown hair that could only have come from a styling salon. ¡°So I guess they finally sent for child services. I suppose I should be glad they waited so long, but I¡¯m afraid your services won¡¯t be needed. My mom made sure I¡¯d be emancipated upon her death or incapacitation.¡± I stared the man down, just waiting for him to dare try and take me away from here. If he tried, he¡¯d quickly find himself in a world of hurt. I wasn¡¯t afraid to hit below the belt. ¡°Well I suppose that will make this easier then,¡± the man answered as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, ¡°I am actually not from child services though. My name is Brian Hastings. I work for a little known government agency and am here in regards to certain events that occurred during your accident. It¡¯s quite remarkable to hear of your survival you know.¡± ¡°So I keep hearing,¡± I deadpanned, not budging an inch, ¡°Do you have any ID?¡± Obviously not put out by my attitude, he brought out a wallet and opened it to show a very official looking badge on one side and a government ID with his name and face on the other side. My heart began racing, ¡°The Office of Paranormal Affairs? You¡¯ve got to be joking. If such a thing existed, I¡¯m sure I would have heard about it before now. The news agencies would probably love to take a crack at you.¡± ¡°We like our privacy and the government provides excellent incentives to keep it that way. I assure you we¡¯re quite real. In fact, if you called the police right now and requested validation of my identity, you¡¯d find it to be so.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say I believe you, why are you visiting me?¡± ¡°Like I mentioned before, the strange events of your accident caught our attention. Logically, there really was no reason that you could have, should have, survived it,¡± he gazed at me intensely like a cowboy before a showdown, ¡°and you and I both know that you¡¯re the reason you both did.¡± He knew. I¡¯m not sure how, but he did. ¡°The blue light¡­¡± it slipped out of my mouth without thinking. He looked pleased, ¡°Exactly. You are someone we call an awakened. You have a powerful gift that stayed dormant within you for years, until the stress and fear you felt during the accident brought it out.¡± ¡°We? So there are others like me? You¡¯re like me?¡± ¡°Yes there are and yes I am. Like you, I too awakened my gift many years ago.¡± ¡°Show me,¡± I demanded. He pushed up his suit sleeve to reveal an armlet covered in runes. Placing his opposite hand on it he spoke a harsh word that sounded Greek to me, and a translucent orange shield popped into place around him. ¡°I knew I couldn¡¯t be the only one!¡± I exclaimed giddily, ¡°All those tales and myths all over the world! It couldn¡¯t all be fiction! So are there a lot of us? Are we all part of some sort of secret society? Is there a secret hand sign or password to recognize each other or something?¡± A chuckle escaped him at my excitement as he removed his hand from the armlet, letting the shield fall, ¡°There aren¡¯t actually that many of us. Only one in a thousand have the potential gift and only about one in ten of those actually do awaken. That¡¯s less than a million world wide. So while you can consider us unofficially a sort of secret society, we remain under our individual country¡¯s jurisdictions. They monitor and protect us, keep us secret, and often hire us. Like myself, my job is to keep a watch out for the newly awakened and help you get introduced to all of this and of course get you set up with training.¡± ¡°So what is it anyways, this gift of mine? How did I get it?¡± ¡°Well for the lack of another word, and the sake of tradition, we call it magic. Like with all genetics, the potential is there in your blood. One or both of your parents have the potential themselves, they just didn¡¯t go through a traumatic enough event to awaken.¡± ¡°But my mom¡­¡± Sympathy flashed over his face, ¡°From my knowledge, she either doesn¡¯t have the potential or perhaps her concussion interfered with her awakening.¡± I decided to leave that alone for now, ¡°So what all can I do with this power anyways? What kind of training are we talking about?¡± ¡°Because there are so very few of us, we usually do a sort of apprenticeship program with you picking a mentor who specializes in the area or areas that interest you. These would include personal protection, like your shield,¡± he nodded to me, ¡°runes, illusions, potions, divination, elemental magic, if you have the ability, healing¡­¡± ¡°Healing?¡± I interrupt, glancing at my mothering as a sudden surge of hope gripped me, ¡°Is there someone who could heal my mom? The doctors here have already done all they can for her.¡± My heart fell as I saw the look on his face, knowing it would be another dead end before he even spoke, ¡°A coma usually means the problem is brain related, in her case extreme brain trauma, and someone would need to be not only very good at healing magic, but also a master of mind magic too. I don¡¯t believe there is or has ever been a human mage capable of healing her. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Sorrow crashed renewed upon me, but wait, human? His word choice had been strangely specific. Like a drowning person grabbing at the last life line, I grasped desperately, ¡°You said human. Does that mean there are other races out there? Like, as in Lord of the Rings? Races with someone who could help my mom?¡± Hastings looked like he obviously regretted his slip of the tongue, ¡°There are actually other magical races - Lycanthropes, Vampires, various Fey and nature spirits, even dragons, but don¡¯t get your hopes up. Although they live among us, they refuse to answer to any human authority. Most tend to disdain humans in general, when they don¡¯t outright hate us. Not only is the large majority of our population magical nulls, but even those of us who are awakened are less magically skilled and physically weaker then most of the other races. Some of them even actively consider us prey! I can¡¯t imagine any one of them being willing to help even if they were capable.¡± I had finally found the slightest glimmer of light and I didn¡¯t want to let it go, ¡°There has to be a way. They can¡¯t all hate us. There have to be some who are at least neutral if paid enough cash!¡± ¡°Yes, you might be able to find someone willing, even if friendlies and neutrals are rarer than you might think, but I don¡¯t believe you understand just how rare someone skilled enough to heal this kind of damage is. And every single one of that handful of specialists would certainly have plenty of reasons not to get involved with healing a human!¡± His tone spoke of years worth of frustration on the subject, ¡°Hell, you could probably learn to heal her yourself before you could get any one of them to help!¡± ¡°Myself?¡± My head jumped up from where it had sunk, ¡°I could learn to heal her myself?¡± He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath, ¡°Look Jessica, I was serious about there being no human mage with the knowledge or skills needed. While there are plenty of healers, few of them have the advanced skills necessary, and absolutely no human knows more than the most basic of mind magic! That means we can¡¯t teach you! And I can guarantee no one from the other races would want to. In fact, off the top of my head, I can only think of one place to learn how that might accept you, but you¡¯d die before you could learn what you needed to know!¡± ¡°So I¡¯m just supposed to give up without even trying?!¡± Righteous fury mixed with sorrow bubbled within me, ¡°Without that knowledge, my mom will probably never wake up again! If there¡¯s even the slightest chance to get her back, I want to take it! She¡¯s all I have left and I refuse to lose her!¡± ¡°Even if trying could cost you your life? Do you really think your mom would want that?¡± I looked over to her, pale and still as death, only the motions and beeps of the monitors showing that she hadn¡¯t already passed on. She was like this because of me, because I had been too selfish and stupid and hadn¡¯t paid enough attention to my driving. My fists clenched and tears blurred my vision as my head fell, ¡°If I had just kept my eyes on the road, none of this would have happened. She would¡¯ve been fine and life would¡¯ve gone on as normal.¡± ¡°You also wouldn¡¯t have discovered your magic,¡± Hastings tried to gently point out. ¡°Like I would even care about that if I could have her back!¡± I exploded, whipping my head angrily to face him, ¡°I would give up this power in an instant to have her standing fine and well next to me again! She would¡¯ve done anything for me. She never would¡¯ve given up, and never has for all of my life! Not when she was raped and found herself pregnant with me. Not when she struggled to raise me all alone. Not when she was out of work or even when she was working sixteen hour days! Not ever. And if it were me lying there instead of her, she wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to willingly give her life to try and save mine. So I¡¯ll be damned before I do any bit less!¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. A sudden knocking startled me as the nurse from before poked her head through the doorway, ¡°Is everything alright in here, Jessie-hun? We heard shouting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Miss Beth,¡± I answered, still riled up, ¡°Our conversation just got a little intense.¡± She didn¡¯t look as if she quite believed me. ¡°Okay then, but if you need anything just holler. And you sir,¡± she gave an admonishing glare to Mr. Hastings, ¡°please don¡¯t go upsettin¡¯ her anymore. The poor girl¡¯s already had a rough week.¡± As soon as she shut the door, I took a deep calming breath before apologizing, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I let myself get a bit too loud at the end there. At least they don¡¯t seem to have overheard what we were talking about.¡± He had a bit of an amused look on his face as he turned away from the door that I didn¡¯t care to try and analyze, ¡°It¡¯s quite alright. This is a very emotional topic and one that I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to budge you on. But if you¡¯re going to go and throw yourself into the lion¡¯s mouth, then I¡¯m for sure going to do my best to help you survive it.¡± He turned away and started pacing and muttering to himself, ¡°I¡¯ll need to set up instructors, a training area¡­ Leon would probably help, and of course I¡¯ll have to contact the headmistress.¡± ¡°Headmistress?¡± I interrupt, ¡°This place is a school then?¡± ¡°Ha! As if you could call that nest of snakes a school! The Akademiya is supposedly a neutral territory where any of the magical races can send their children to get advanced training. It''s supposed to be a way for them to interact and learn about each other in a safe environment. In reality, it¡¯s a proving arena; one where each of them try to show their personal and racial superiority over all the others. The staff will turn a blind eye to just about anything, even murder, so long as it¡¯s not blatant. And for you, a human, to go to their school as if you¡¯re equal to them, they¡¯ll eat you alive, maybe literally! You can¡¯t even choose to drop out if it gets to be too much, the Akademiya has a reputation it likes to keep, and they¡¯ll hunt down anyone who tries to flee before finishing. The only way out of attending after you start, is graduation or death. Now, are you starting to understand just what it is you¡¯re asking me to send you into?¡± I gazed steadily at him, ignoring my fluttering heart, ¡°You already warned me that doing this could mean my death.¡± Hastings threw up his hands in disgust, ¡°So be it then. I¡¯ll get some sort of training program put together in the next few days, and if you give me your number I¡¯ll contact you when we¡¯re ready to start. It¡¯ll be intense,¡± he warned, ¡°We only have two months before the start of the new school year and I¡¯ll be doing my best to make sure that you either know enough to survive or else decide to give up out of pain and exhaustion. And right now I¡¯m definitely leaning towards trying to make you do the latter.¡± The thread of worry and fear in the back of my mind strengthened, but I couldn¡¯t let my resolve falter now. So I just silently wrote out my cell phone number and handed it over to him. He looked unhappy to accept it, ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a few days then.¡± As he shut the door quietly behind himself, my strong fa?ade immediately crumbled. My barely contained tears from before burst out and great echoing sobs escaped from my mouth. I fumbled my way over to my mother¡¯s bedside and gripped her hand tightly, ¡°Oh momma, what the hell have I just gotten myself into? Am I doing the right thing? I don¡¯t want to die and I know you wouldn¡¯t want me too, but mom I miss you so much! How will I ever do this without you? This school is probably going to be really far away and I won¡¯t even be able to see you for a long time. And it¡¯s not as if you could talk to me over the phone or even send letters since you¡®re like this. And I¡¯m so, so sorry mom, this is all my fault! I need you mom, please just come back to me!¡± The tears seemed to flow even more quickly as I crawled into her hospital bed, curling up carefully against her side. ¡°Mom, I don¡¯t want to have to do this. Please wake up. Don¡¯t leave me alone,¡± I pleaded the words over and over in my mind until I cried myself to sleep. * * * ¡°So that¡¯s the situation, sir.¡± Brian Hastings reported back to his superior over his cell phone, ¡°She¡¯s determined to try the Akademiya.¡± ¡°This could actually be the chance we¡¯ve been looking for to show those arrogant bastards on the Interspecies Council that we have the strength, if not the knowledge, to equal any one of them. Maybe then we¡¯ll finally get those concessions we¡¯ve been trying years for. Brian, we need this girl to survive that school first though. Tell me honestly, do you think she can make it?¡± ¡°She¡¯s got a will of iron, sir, and I believe she¡¯d rather die before giving up.¡± ¡°Well don¡¯t let her do that either. If she dies, I doubt another would be willing to try for at least fifty years. It¡¯s already been over a hundred since the last tried and died. We don¡¯t need to add another to our long list of failures. Humanity deserves to sit at the top and I want the U.S. to be the one to lead us there. This girl would be the most powerful human mage alive if she manages to graduate from the Akademiya and I want her firmly on our side when that time comes. Loyalty, that¡¯s the key, and of course a mutually beneficent relationship. If she wants our aid, she¡¯ll have to agree to sign a recruitment contract and work for us, but you know we take care of our own. We¡¯ll not only train her, but also pay for the accident costs and her mother¡¯s care. Can¡¯t have her distracting herself with trivial worries, now can we. I know this is a gamble, but the potential rewards are just incalculable. God, I want this so bad. I¡¯m going to be allocating a lot of money and resources to you Hastings, so this girl better succeed. As of now, your job depends on it!¡± A sudden silence on the other end signaled to Brian that his boss had hung up. ¡°Yes, sir. Right away, sir,¡± he muttered to himself. He didn¡¯t like being a part of any of this. Jessica was only sixteen and shouldn¡¯t have to worry about risking her life or having government officials seeking to own her, but what else could he do except his best to try and keep her alive, the rest would be up to her. * * * Jessica¡¯s thoughts had run rampant over the last few days since her visit from the government mage. Worries, fears, and unanswered questions all fought for precedence in her head. Who was going to care for her mom while she was away? How was she going to pay for that care, the accident damages, and now this school? Was she absolutely insane to want to try and do this? ¡°Jess, are you even listening to me?¡± Shelly asked me, interrupting the spiral my thoughts had again taken. I looked at her as she tossed her edgy black bangs and posed her hands upon her hips, the outline of my mom¡¯s hospital room behind her, ¡°Sorry Shel, I just can¡¯t seem to concentrate right now.¡± Her stance softened at my words, ¡°I know Jess. All of this has got to be really tough. I was just hoping I could cheer you up some. You know if you need someone to talk to, I¡¯m right here for you.¡± It was at the tip of my tongue to just tell her about all of it. She¡¯d been my best friend since elementary school and I¡¯d never kept something this big from her, but where would I even start? Not only was all of this supposed to be some big secret that would probably get both her and me in big trouble if I told her, but if I did tell her I could do magic, she¡¯d probably think I¡¯d gone completely bonkers! I needed to tell her something though, she deserved at least that much, ¡°I might be going away for awhile Shel, maybe for a long time.¡± ¡°What? Why? I thought your mom emancipated you,¡± she asked obviously bewildered. Twisting the truth a bit, I answered, ¡°I got an invite to a special school, one of those that offers an accelerated program. If I finish it, I could qualify for early admission to a pre-med program. You know I want to heal my mom, so I¡¯m really thinking of doing this.¡± ¡°Wow, Jess! I knew your grades were good, but wow! Oh, I¡¯ll miss you so much! You should totally go for it. This is so exciting! I totally need to tell Amy and Hank and; oh my gosh, Jeremy! What are you going to do about him?¡± ¡°Well you know I like him, but we weren¡¯t really that serious, and with me being so far away I think it¡¯d be best to just break it off.¡± ¡°Oh Jess, he¡¯ll be heartbroken.¡± Thinking of last week when I caught him eying the very same girl right in front of me, I replied, ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine. Maybe he¡¯ll even find his true love is closer than you might think.¡± My cell phone started chirping like a cricket, telling me it didn¡¯t recognize the number calling, ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Miss Langden? It¡¯s Brian Hastings,¡± I recognized his tenor voice from before. I held my hand over the phone and quietly spoke up, ¡°Hey Shel, it¡¯s the admittance guy. I need to take this.¡± ¡°Awesome! I¡¯ll talk to you later then. Bye, and good luck!¡± I watched as she flounced out of the room before removing my hand from the phone, ¡°Hi Mr. Hastings, sorry about the wait, I had a guest, but I¡¯m alone now.¡± ¡°Good. I have everything set up, so I¡¯d like to bring you out here tomorrow.¡± ¡°Tomorrow? That¡¯s so soon!¡± I started panicking, ¡°I haven¡¯t even packed and I still have so much I need to take care of here. I don¡¯t even know how I¡¯m going to pay for all of this!¡± ¡°Jessica,¡± he addressed me calmly, ¡°we don¡¯t have much time to get you trained up, so we need to begin as soon as possible. As long as this is still what you want that is.¡± ¡°I do, really, but¡­¡± I bit my lip. ¡°My superiors are very excited at this chance to push a human, especially a U.S. citizen, into prominence within the supernatural community, so they¡¯ve put a lot of resources at our disposal. There is a price for all of this though. They want you to sign a contract to work for my agency. In return, you¡¯ll receive extensive training, we¡¯ll cover the school¡¯s fees, the damages from your accident, and make sure your mother is cared for while you¡¯re away.¡± He paused, letting me take it all in. Wow, a job offer at sixteen, I so didn¡¯t expect that, ¡°It sounds fair, but how long would I need to work for them?¡± ¡°As soon as you sign up, you¡¯ll start receiving a basic salary, but your contract locks you in for twenty years after you graduate from The Academy.¡± I winced thinking about it, twenty years was a really long time, sounded like a prison sentence actually, but it wasn¡¯t like I really had already made any plans for my future and if this was what it took to heal my mom, was it really too large a price to pay? ¡°You¡¯ve warned me how dangerous this school is, so if I do this, I want one guarantee, in writing.¡± I paused, taking in a deep breath, ¡°If I die, I want my mom to be cared for.¡± His quick response reassured me, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s added to the contract. So are you in? It¡¯s not too late to back out.¡± I took a slow breath, ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°Alright. Pack a light bag, most of what you¡¯ll need will be provided. We¡¯ll pick you up at the hospital at ten am. That should be enough time to say your goodbyes. Have you picked out a story to tell everyone?¡± ¡°Invite to an advanced school with an accelerated program that could lead to an early pre-med program admission.¡± ¡°Sounds good. We¡¯ll flesh out the details and provide you with all you need for a cover.¡± ¡°It sounds like I¡¯m going to be a spy when you put it like that,¡± I almost snorted at the thought. Langden, Jessica Langden. His tone when he answered was dead serious, ¡°You might as well be. But anyways we¡¯ll go over all of those details after you sign your contract. Tonight, just get some rest. You¡¯re going to need it. See you tomorrow.¡± I echoed his good bye and then stood staring at the phone in silence for a minute. Was he really serious just then? Oh, just what was I getting myself into? Chapter 2: Training Chapter Two: Training Saying goodbye to my mother this morning had been even harder than I had expected, but it had also renewed my determination for my chosen course. As did the contract that sat on the table before me. It was filled with the usual meandering legalese, but the main points I had been told about were in there, as was my own personal request. Being told that I needed to sign in my own blood however, that was more than a bit disturbing and creepy, especially considering my own odd reactions during the whole process. I was quite disconcerted to feel a jolt of disappointment when they didn¡¯t make me slash open a vein, a simple needle and vial providing all that was supposedly necessary to ink my signature. There had been a strange feeling to write it too, like I had just signed over my soul. An apparently normal sensation that they had reassured me would only bind me magically and verbally to the contract, to prevent me from spilling any of the agency¡¯s secrets. At least I was not alone in all of this, Mr. Hastings and all of the people who worked for the agency had to sign similar contracts. Still, the whole process gave me tingles down my spine. ¡°Alright, now that that¡¯s taken care of, I can give you a little more information. The Academy is located in Russia, on Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal near Mongolia. It¡¯s a four year school, but luckily you¡¯re still in the accepted age range to attend. The Headmistress is Bolormaa, a Drakonian who has ruled the school for centuries. She has agreed to accept you for the fall semester, but warned me that your safety was up to you. They won¡¯t tolerate blatant attacks, but pretty much anything else is fair game. She says it weeds out the weaklings. Because of this we¡¯ll be spending most of our time strengthening your body, recreating your protection shield, teaching you the basics of mind magic, and of course about all the interesting and dangerous species you¡¯ll encounter while there.¡± Lovely. I silently swallowed and began to feel a sinking feeling in my gut, ¡°I suppose we should get started then.¡± He showed me the room I would be staying in, a barren military barracks room. I suppose I shouldn¡¯t have expected much since we were after all at the Yakima Training Center, one of Washington state¡¯s largest shrub-steppe habitats and where Fort Lewis did many of their maneuvers and live-fire training. It wasn¡¯t meant to be lived in full-time, but I guess I¡¯d just have to make due. I changed into one of the training uniforms provided and as I drew up my blond hair into a ponytail, I just stopped and stared at myself in the mirror. Five foot six, blue eyes, pale, and with high cheekbones that I was told were considered classically beautiful, could I really do this? I looked more like a delicate china doll than the tough agent they said they wanted. And yet, someone obviously had enough faith (or desperation) in me that they had provided me with personal instructors and training. Well I guess I¡¯d never know if I didn¡¯t try. I turned away from the mirror and headed back outside. Upon first seeing my new instructor my mind immediately screamed ¡®dwarf!¡¯ and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he really was, but no, Mr. Hastings had said they only had humans employed by the agency - no one else wanted to be a part of it. Leon Don¡¯t-Ask-Me-My-Last-Name was short, shorter than me, bald and quite muscular with a short fuzzy red mustache. I didn¡¯t dare ask him his last name. ¡°Alright Langden, let¡¯s see what you¡¯re made of,¡± Leon bellowed, the sound echoing across the training field. ¡°Run you runty maggot! And keep running until I say you can stop, or you puke, whichever comes first!¡± I ran. Now I had been in track at school, so I considered myself a pretty good runner, but apparently that wasn¡¯t good enough. Leon kept urging me to go faster until I was at sprinting speed, and then I was told to maintain it. My lungs burned in agony, my leg muscles screamed in chorus and even after the scrubby plants at the side of the track received my nourishing upchuck the sadistic dwarf pushed me on. Although after I puked he did at least keep to his word and let me stop running, only so that I could do other exercises though. Push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and more, all the while Leon¡¯s booming voice yelling insulting motivations. I had more muscles aching then I even knew I had. When he at last let me stop, I collapsed chest heaving, to the ground, enjoying the cool breeze across my feverish, sweat-soaked skin. ¡°Don¡¯t just sit there you dog begotten short-bus reject! Start stretching before your pitiful muscles seize!¡± As I slowly started stretching my limbs he continued, ¡°Now I¡¯ve only got two months to try and make you able to hold your own against those suped up freaks at that school, so that means I¡¯m going to be working you hard. Now no matter how much stronger or faster you get, puke-breath, you still won¡¯t be able to hold up a candle against most of the magical races, but I¡¯m going to do my damnedest to shorten the gap! I will teach you self defense techniques, weapons, including guns, to injure or kill the little buggers, and about as many weaknesses on your foes as I know! Your enemies will be many and if you want to survive, you must be more ruthless, blood-thirsty, and cruel than the meanest serial killer on this earth! If you are attacked you must be willing to do ten-times as much damage in return! They push you into a wall, you break a limb. If one tries to take a bite out of you, you slit their throat! You must make them respect and fear your retribution! Only then might you survive!¡± His words whirled in my head as I tried to imagine breaking someone¡¯s arm or even killing them on purpose , ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can be that, that ruthless!¡± ¡°Well you better toughen up sweet cheeks, that is, unless you want your pretty little mom to stay right where she is.¡± His eyes were hard as a faint smirk graced his lips, tilting his mustache. I was frozen in horror. I thought I was prepared to face the danger, but I hadn¡¯t even considered what I would have to do to survive it. Images of my mom in the accident and at the hospital battled side by side in my head with imagined ones of me cruelly slicing some shadowy figure¡¯s neck, blood spraying across the gleeful grin on my face. Did I really want to do this, would my mom want me to become this kind of monstrous person? I knew she would hate the idea, the thought of me doing this, but she wasn¡¯t here. She wasn¡¯t here. It was the very reason why I had decided to do this. I had asked myself before just how far I was willing to go in pursuit of this path and as a hard glint entered my eyes, I knew I¡¯d found a new low. I really shouldn¡¯t feel too guilty at the thought anyways, I thought to myself, trying to shake off my continuing unease. With their super-sturdy bodies, it would probably be really hard for me to do any real lasting damage and I would only need to respond that harshly if they attacked me first. I needed to learn to harden my heart and remember that I wouldn¡¯t be dealing with humans at the Akademiya. I would be all alone, surrounded by enemies, with no one to help me if I got in too deep. And just deciding to go to that school guaranteed I was already in too deep, ¡°I understand sir.¡± He must have recognized the resoluteness in my face, my stance, because he only nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s get you over to the nurse¡¯s office then. She¡¯ll have a potion to help purge the lactic acid out of your muscles.¡± I was given a hand up and slowly hobbled my way over to a building marked with the universally known red cross symbol. Leon led the way in, ¡°Hey Green, we¡¯re going to need that potion now.¡± I followed him inside and was rooted to the ground in shock, ¡°You!¡± Miss Beth Green, my mother¡¯s nurse from the hospital, stood in front of me, miles away from where I¡¯d last expected to see her. ¡°Hello, sweetie,¡± she cheerfully smiled at me. I stammered, ¡°How? What?¡± I watched her smooth her blue uniform skirt with her hands, ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a bit of a shock seeing me here, but it¡¯s something easily explained. I work for the Office of Paranormal Affairs. I was assigned to keep an eye on you after your accident and determine if you had in fact awakened your magic.¡± My jaw dropped, ¡°You were spying on me!¡± ¡°Oh yes hun,¡± she nodded quite matter-of-fact, ¡°You might as well get used to it too, as it is a necessary part of our duties. In fact, you will be learning quite a bit about it this summer.¡± She beamed a mischievous grin at me. I¡¯d obviously jinxed myself earlier with my whole, ¡®Langden, Jessica Langden¡¯ bit. ¡°I¡¯ll be teaching some of what you need to know for that, as well as first aid and basic mind magic,¡± she continued to inform me. ¡°Well now that you two are reacquainted,¡± Leon interjected, ¡°I¡¯m going to be heading out. Jessica, I¡¯ll expect you at six in the morning on the training field, warmed up and ready.¡± Oh goody, I thought, favoring my aching muscles, more torture. Knowing better than to voice this aloud I simply answered, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± After watching him leave I turned back to the nurse, ¡°So what now?¡± ¡°Now, you¡¯ll drink this,¡± she replied, handing me a corked glass vial containing a dark blue liquid. I eyed it briefly before shrugging and pulling the stopper out with my teeth, then chugged it. The taste was so bitter and acrid I nearly gagged, ¡°Blargh, what¡¯s in this?¡± ¡°Dandelion, squid ink, calf tongue, banana, stinging nettle, red clover, and a pinch of hemlock,¡± she listed off each ingredient one by one using her fingers. I gagged even more at the information. Wait, ¡°Isn¡¯t hemlock a poison?!¡± I exclaimed incredulously. ¡°Well of course if you took it straight, but even if the amount in the potion wasn¡¯t too minute to be dangerous, the process of making a potion changes its chemical properties, thus eliminating the hazard. Don¡¯t worry too much right now, you¡¯ll learn plenty about it soon enough. This potion is one we¡¯ll teach you this summer.¡± Lovely, if I wasn¡¯t careful I could end up dead before all my numerous future classmates even had the chance. ¡°That potion should have started taking effect by now. How do you feel?¡± I moved my arm and was surprised by a definite lack of agony, ¡°You should bottle and sell this stuff. You¡¯d make a fortune!¡± She looked amused, ¡°Unfortunately impossible considering its brief shelf life and uselessness for the magical nulls. Only the addition of our body¡¯s magic actually makes it worth anything.¡± ¡°So much for my get-rich-quick scheme,¡± I joked. She clapped her hands in attention, ¡°Well the day¡¯s a-wasting so let¡¯s get started on your next lesson, mind magic.¡± The following couple of hours, I learned that mind magic began mostly with meditation, with centering myself and learning to find that inner core of power within me. Apparently I would learn to raise and maintain shields in my mind with time, but for now I was starving and it was long past time for lunch, at least according to my growling stomach that is. The cafeteria was desolate, the few people inside all bunched up at one table near the food. It was kind of depressing, much like the food. Miss Beth and I sat down and I was introduced to the other instructors. Besides Leon, whose last name was apparently Spankey, and Brian Hastings, who would be instructing me in Runes, there was also Jaime Davis, an elegant looking woman with a New York accent and impeccable taste in shoes, and Mr. Michael Edward Cutherford, a slightly pudgy fellow who seemed to enjoy listening to himself speak far too much. Mrs. Davis was a potions Mistress and would be instructing me in the basics of her craft. Mr. Cutherford was a diplomat to the various magical races and would be helping me learn their strengths, weaknesses, and inter-relations. He also, unsurprisingly, would be my other instructor in the arts of espionage. After lunch Hastings and I moved to a more comfortable common area. Runes, I learned, not only consisted of the ancient Germanic Futhark languages, but also included such things as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and some specialized Chinese characters. Because each of the glyphs directly corresponded to an individual object or abstract idea they could be used symbolically to perform magic. Now it would take too much time to study all of the types that existed, so this summer I would mostly focus on the various Futhark scripts and some other useful combinations. These runes would be key to guarding my personal chambers at the Akademiya and also help shield myself. Mr. Hastings spent two hours going over the history of the Futharks and their basic rune sets, gave me a book for further study on my own time, and then showed me to a room that had clearly been converted into a laboratory. After entering the room I saw Mrs. Davis with her dark brown hair up in an elegant knot, goggles over her eyes and her gloved hands resting upon her lab coat-covered hips. Looking at her and the Bunsen burner and beaker covered table I couldn¡¯t help but giggle. I always thought it would be fun to play mad scientist. ¡°Well don¡¯t stand there gawking in the doorway, come in and put on some protective gear,¡± she ordered briskly, pointing to a set hanging on the wall beside me. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The white lab coat and grey rubber gloves were slightly too big for me, but at least the goggles could be adjusted. As she made little noises of impatience, I hurried over to her side, still fidgeting with one glove. ¡°Alright Miss Langden, I want you to take this knife and cut this carrot into even sized portions.¡± ¡°I thought this was potions, not cooking,¡± I jokingly protested. Her flat stare told me she was not amused, ¡°If you think I¡¯m going to waste good potion ingredients on you before you even know how to cut and measure things properly, you¡¯re vastly overestimating your own importance.¡± Chagrined, I began to cut the carrot. ¡°No, no, no! If you cut it by even lengths, then as the carrot¡¯s diameter increases, the portions will not remain equal! Do it again.¡± The next couple hours was a trial in patience as I learned to cut, grind, weigh, and measure to Mrs. Davis¡¯ exacting standards, all the while with her haranguing my each and every mistake. When she finally told me to clean everything up, I let go a sigh of relief before quickly glancing at her in trepidation. To my ease, she gave me a wry smile, ¡°I know you think I¡¯m being harsh, but you¡¯ll thank me in the future. Potions can be extremely delicate and after your first explosion you¡¯ll definitely appreciate my training.¡± Explosion? Just great, another way to die before summer¡¯s end. A knock at the door interrupted my morbid musings, and Mr. Cutherford poked his head inside, ¡°All done in here, Jaime?¡± ¡°Just one moment Michael,¡± she answered him before turning to me with a book in her hand, ¡°Jessica, this book goes over the basic classes of ingredients, their magically symbolic meanings, uses, and how they interact with each other. Study it and read at least two chapters tonight. Take notes. I will quiz you tomorrow to see how well you retain information.¡± ¡°Well if she¡¯s not too good at retaining it right now, don¡¯t worry. Observation and memory recall are two of the things I¡¯ll be training her in.¡± Cutherford beamed at us both. They were in fact two things I would be learning immediately, I soon found out when Mr. Cutherford led me to a seemingly desolate strip of dirt road and asked me to tell him everything I saw. I looked around at the sparse vegetation on either side, the dry road bed beneath our feet and the mountainous hills hemming us in, and wondered if there was a trick to his question. Seeing my confusion, he demonstrated, ¡°If you look closely at the road, you will see several types of tracks. The ones embedded into the hard dirt were made when it was still mud, which you should know by the arid landscape, was quite a while ago. Now these tracks, pointing to a set of horse hoof prints, are much fresher. You can tell by how the dirt crumbles into the tracks, and partially covers the mud made prints.¡± His lecture continued for a while, teaching me how to tell which print was freshest, the probable order they were made in, and even approximately how long ago each was made. Then we moved onto memory recall. He asked for me to describe each of my instructors in detail, what they taught me, any details and impressions they gave me. Accents, word choice, styles of dress, all these things gave a lot of information about a person and were important for me to learn to remember. One of the ways he had decided to train my memory, was to refuse to let me take notes. So when we moved on to my magical races¡¯ studies, I was focused to an extreme degree. ¡°Let¡¯s start with vampires. Now there are two main types of vampire. The European one of legend, with whom you¡¯re probably more familiar, and the one of East Asia and Pacific Islands. Both types are undead who have fangs and suck the blood of the living. The European one is much like the Hollywood portrayal of Dracula. Burns in sunlight, affected by Holy items, and can only be killed by a stake through the heart or removing the head. Garlic does nothing to them. The more powerful ones can fly, change into an animal form, or even take control of a person. ¡°Now the Asian vampire is a little different. For one, removing their head won¡¯t kill them. Their heads are actually able to self-detach naturally without any personal harm. While the body can still continue to move around somewhat normally, the head can then fly away to suck it¡¯s victims¡¯ blood. If the body is destroyed while the head is gone however, the vampire will soon die. They can be recognized by the ring of red runes that surround their neck, although this is often covered to prevent identification. Now they too are affected by Holy items, but the key to remember with both of these types is that for a Holy item to work, true belief must be invoked and willfully projected. Something important to remember is that while both types of vampires can change regular humans into their respective type of vampire, thus increasing their numbers, they are also still considered to be true races because although rare, they do occasionally have live born children.. Such children generally age until their mid to late twenties, before dying and becoming an undead. While these children are not technically dead, they do in fact still require blood to survive; they will have super-human strength, speed, and reflexes; and will usually inherit their parents¡¯ magical gifts. Expect some of them to be your future classmates,¡± he finished with a wry grin. We walked back to the main compound and the cafeteria. Dinner was as uninspiring as lunch and afterwards I went back to my room to study my books before crashing into a deep and heavy sleep. Morning would come far too soon for me.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. * * * The muscles in my arms and legs grew quickly as the days passed and my instructors relentlessly pushed my knowledge farther and farther. After Leon determined my body was at a level he termed ¡®adequate,¡¯ he set me to self defense techniques. Mostly it was throws and deflections and learning how to fall while minimizing my injuries, things that could actually help me against someone with overwhelming strength. I received a lot of scrapes and bruises in those weeks. Leon told me it was a good thing that I was building up a decent level of pain resistance. For offense, he started with knife techniques and then he gave me the great equalizer. ¡°Alright puke breath, now that you¡¯re at a point where you might just last ten seconds against one of your future classmates, it¡¯s time to give you something that might actually let you last a bit longer and maybe even make a few of them miscreant mutant freaks wary to tangle with you. This,¡± he pulled out a dull silver and black gun, ¡°is a Smith & Wesson 627 Pro Series Revolver. It can carry eight rounds of .357 magnum caliber bullets and weighs about two and a half pounds fully loaded. I¡¯ve chosen it for you not only because it¡¯s a large caliber, and will actually be able to do some damage, but also because it¡¯s so easy to use and care for, with such a smooth, easy trigger pull that even a rank newb like yourself shouldn¡¯t be able to fail with it.¡± He handed it over me and I almost dropped it from its weight. Two and a half pounds didn¡¯t sound like much, but when I had to hold it straight out in front of me, it seemed like a lot more. He showed me how the gun was put together, explaining the different parts, and how to load the cartridges. Then, after handing me a pair of ear plugs, indicating how I should put them in as he did so himself, he set me into the basic isosceles shooting stance, with my legs spread, both hands holding the gun out and my arms locked. I lined up my sights with the target, took a deep breath and on the exhale, pulled slowly and steadily on the trigger. The first shot was loud and bright, accompanied by a flash of flame from the barrel and a kickback that would have probably broke my nose if my arms hadn¡¯t been locked. A slow grin spread across my face as I saw the small hole on the outer edge of the circular target. Oh, I liked this. It couldn¡¯t all be fun and guns though, there was still a lot of knowledge the other instructors still needed to cram inside my head. With Miss Beth, I learned to raise simple shields to hide my thoughts, then I was taught how to secrete my thoughts in other ways. In espionage, the art of masks, being able to control what my face and body movements told people, was crucial. And Miss Bethany Green was a master of this art. ¡°People are really easy to manipulate,¡± she told me, ¡°they usually only see what they expect or want to see. What you need to do is simply cater to those expectations,¡± there was a sweet smile on her broad face, and a glint of slyness in her dark eyes that I probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed without her words. ¡°Like you as a nurse,¡± I responded dryly. ¡°Exactly! Because I was your mother¡¯s nurse and you expected me to be there, you didn¡¯t look any farther and figure out that I was spying on you. Now, for you it¡¯ll be a little bit different, everyone at your school already expects each other to be a spy. So your goal isn¡¯t to dispute the fact that you¡¯re there to spy, but instead make them believe that what we¡¯re really interested in is to them what they would consider merely inconsequential information. Basically, make yourself seem harmless. ¡°Because the school is such a proving ground, many of your classmates will be the children of quite important individuals. They will have been raised to be assured of their own superiority over other races and definitely over humans. You will use this assumption against them. Be insignificant, trivial, not worth wasting their time over you. In classes, play down your abilities, knowledge, and intelligence. Outside of classes, keep your head down, don¡¯t deliberately challenge anyone. They aren¡¯t expecting much from a human, so let them believe what they want to.¡± ¡°You do know that this is in exact opposition to what Leon has been telling me to do, right?¡± I ask her, chewing my lip in nervous perplexity, ¡°He says I need to be utterly ruthless.¡± ¡°It may seem like a contradiction, but it actually isn¡¯t. While this is the persona I want you to adapt from the very start, when you absolutely must defend yourself, be violent, cruel, and without any pity. However, only show that face to the one you¡¯re directly opposing. To anyone else who may be watching, I want you to give an appearance of desperate panic. Make any strikes appear to be merely luck, especially if you have to kill your opponent in a direct confrontation. I want the other students to be curling their lips in disgust, both at your ¡®pitiful¡¯ skills and at your attacker¡¯s ¡®pathetic¡¯ showing. Eventually, they might catch on, but I want you to hide your true skills until you are actually strong enough to go toe-to-toe with any one of them. That¡¯s also the reason why I want you to look for allies or even just someone you can curry favor from who can act as a protector and deterrent.¡± That lesson drastically increased my respect for the southern nurse as she taught me just how to project the desired impression. Of course, I didn¡¯t just learn espionage tricks from her, I also learned to use the lessons in creating my mind shields to direct my magic in other ways. The magic of the mind seemed to come with a disconcerting ease, or so Miss Beth thought. I was just glad I would be able to keep any would be mind mages from stealing my every thought. Using my earlier meditation technique, I learned a basic self-healing trance that could be used to lessen the amount of time an injury took to heal. Then, I learned how to project the physical protection shield I first created during the accident, only now using a runic bracelet as an amplifier. Leon had a great time testing its limits and would often jump me from out of nowhere both day and night to force me to learn how to throw it up at a moment¡¯s notice. As I used it more it strengthened, could last longer, and I could get it up quicker. It was this shield that would be my main defense and most probable reason for my future survival. However, I couldn¡¯t keep it up forever, and it was inevitable that I would eventually get hurt, so Miss Beth also taught me basic first aid techniques and the proper dosing for the potions I was being taught to make. Mrs. Davis was just as implacable in her lessons as Leon was. It was fascinating to me to find out the reasoning behind a potion¡¯s ingredient selection. Take the workout cure potion for example, able to flush the build up of lactic acid from my muscles because of its ingredients¡¯ unique characteristics. The dandelion in it is anti-inflammatory and contains a high amount of potassium, which helps prevent muscle contraction and keeps the body¡¯s fluids and electrolytes balanced. It¡¯s the potassium which is responsible for this potion¡¯s salty, bitter taste. The squid ink gives it that dark blue coloring and due to it¡¯s mild cell toxicity, actually helps break down the lactic acid and prevent the high amounts of potassium in the potion from building up to dangerous levels in the body. Strangely enough, the banana also aids in that task due to a certain enzyme it contains, in addition to providing several useful vitamins and minerals, including potassium and vitamin C. Vitamin C is useful as an antioxidant, pro-oxidant, and antihistamine. The stinging nettle while also rich in nutrients, such as the all important potassium and more vitamin C, grants anti-inflammatory properties and an odd increase in testosterone production. To counteract and balance that last problem, the red clover is added as it contains phytoestrogens. Red clover too is rich in vitamins and minerals and actually helps increase the effectiveness of all those nutrients in the body. The seemingly strange addition of the poisonous hemlock can be explained by its sedative and antispasmodic properties, and since it¡¯s a neurotoxin it can help numb the body¡¯s pain as the potion goes to work. The risk taken with this ingredient is minimalized not only by the body¡¯s magic, but also by the squid ink and banana keeping it from building up in the system and potassium¡¯s diuretic quality helping flush it out. That single potion took a week to learn how to brew, and the others weren¡¯t much better. Besides the workout potion, I learned how to make a bruise balm, useful when I began my self-defense lessons, a wound sealant, and a blood replenisher, just in case I managed to lose too much blood. It was planned that for the rest of the summer I would be taught to make a bone booster, that would speed healing on cracked or broken bones (I¡¯ll just have to make sure they¡¯re set properly first.), a general antidote for poisons, and an interesting spray-on potion that had recently been developed by the Departments R&D team that would hopefully neutralize my scent. For runes I studied the old Germanic Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhark, and Younger Futhark alphabets and the meanings behind the individual runes. I was also introduced to the Celtic Ogham alphabet. That one was interesting because each rune not only had its own meaning, but also corresponded with a particular tree or plant. This was handy when I started learning how to carve the runes, as the material used could aid or hinder the end result. To empower the runes I needed to soak the wood with some of my own blood and activate them by pushing my magic into them. The runes would act similar to a computer program directing the power in a given task and only the blood of a magical being could properly conduct the energies involved. Mr. Hastings was merciless in drilling me in combinations that I could use to carve into my dorm room door and hopefully keep unwanted intruders out. My lessons with Mr. Cutherford however, were more eclectic in style. One day it was on stealth and how to move unnoticed, the next it was on one of the various magical races and the proper etiquette for dealing with them. Sometimes he even combined his lessons, like right now. A locked trunk sat in front of me, I closed my eyes, opened them, and then opened them again, unlocking my second sight and enabling me to see the basic alarm ward glowing around the trunk. ¡°Tell me about weres,¡± my instructor ordered me. ¡°They¡¯re shape shifters,¡± I replied as I took out a yew brush and a vial of my own blood, ¡°Their powers are linked to the lunar cycle, waning and growing along with the visible portion of the moon.¡± I channeled my power into the brush as I began to paint the Ogham rune Idad on the lock with my blood, ¡°Weres have strong instincts that echo those of their respective animal. So strong in fact that they often replicate the same types of social groups found naturally in the wild.¡± The rune glowed briefly and a hole opened in the ward. I put away the brush and vial and reached into another pocket for my lock picks, ¡°They are often strongly gifted in elemental magic, blood magic, and divination.¡± The lock snicked open and I carefully lifted the lid of the trunk, wary of more surprises, ¡°All were types have a severe allergy to silver. ¡°Many predatory-type weres contain a venom in their claws and teeth that can change an ordinary human into one of their kind, if it doesn¡¯t kill them.¡± I quickly memorized the exact positions of each of the items in the chest before taking out the high resolution digital camera that had been given to me, ¡°Whether a bitten or clawed human will change into a were varies according to species, the amount of venom inside the body, and the overall health of the victim.¡± I took detailed pictures of everything inside the trunk, focusing on letters and personal documents, then placed everything back in its original location, ¡°It is important to remember to not look a were directly in the eyes, as most will take this as a challenge.¡± I relocked the trunk and wiped the lock with a cloth soaked in a solvent solution to remove any trace of my blood and power, watching as the hole in the ward snapped closed afterwards, leaving no trace I had ever been there. ¡°So how did I do?¡± I asked as I turned to Mr. Cutherford with a grin. He held up a stopwatch with a smile, ¡°Just over five minutes this time. It may have taken you six tries, but I think you¡¯ve finally got it down. Congratulations, I think you¡¯ve earned yourself a day of rest.¡± Wow, an actual day of rest. I hadn¡¯t had a moment of respite in all the four weeks I¡¯d been here, nothing for me but work and study. I wasn¡¯t even sure what to do with a day all for myself. ¡°I know it¡¯s probably been hurting you to be away from her all this time, so why don¡¯t you go see your mother,¡± he sympathetically suggested with a clap on my shoulder, unaware of the turmoil he just unwittingly wrought inside me. Guilt struck me hard. I¡¯d been so busy this month, I¡¯d barely spared a thought for her at all. I knew I was being unreasonably unfair on myself, since I had after all been working so very hard for her sake, but that didn¡¯t make the pain any less real. ¡°Yes, I think I¡¯d like that,¡± I replied in a soft voice. * * * The hospital hadn¡¯t changed, but I had. I hadn¡¯t even realized just how much until I left the training facility and found myself jumping at sudden noises, automatically scouting for exits and defensive cover, and analyzing each person I saw. The journey to my mom¡¯s room was far more harrowing an endeavor than I ever would have imagined. I would need to get this under control before I left for the Akademiya or I might just have a nervous breakdown from the stress of constantly being on my guard and spare my classmates the trouble of getting rid of me. At least for now my mother¡¯s room was peaceful. I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand in mine. Her face looked more gaunt then it had been a month ago and I could tell her muscles had begun to atrophy by the way her arm jiggled a little bit more than it should have. ¡°Hey Mom, I¡¯m back,¡± I began, slowly stroking her hand as I quietly started to tell her all that I¡¯d been up to in the past month. I told her of how startled I¡¯d been at Leon¡¯s first surprise attack. My protection shield had popped into place with such force that it threw him into the opposite wall. He¡¯d been ecstatic. I described my utter fascination with potions and their fascinating ingredient properties and interactions. I told her about Miss Beth¡¯s sneaky spying history and of learning how to act a deceptive role. And I told her of rune magic. How it entranced me with a powerful allure when I used my blood to power them. The feelings it evoked frightened me, and other things did too, like failing in my task or just simply getting myself killed. I was filled with terror at the thought of facing human-hating vampires, weres, fae, draconians, and who knew what else at the Academy. And I feared even more becoming a monster worse than any of them. ¡°I wish you could talk and give me some advice, Mom. Heck, I wish you would just wake up period and negate the need for all of this, or at least let me see what¡¯s wrong with you so I have a clue how to heal you.¡± Saying that gave me an idea though and I quickly closed my eyes, opened them, then opened them again. The world erupted in flowing colors of lights drifting throughout the room. With the second sight I didn¡¯t just see magical energies, but also the natural energies that existed in all living things. If compared, magic was like water that pooled and collected and flowed into streams around the earth, that we called ley lines, and life energy was like the air that we breathed in. Life energy flowed throughout all living things, providing that little bit of extra oomph that made us live. For magic users, we naturally contained an inner core of that water-like power and by using our will and emotions we could tap into the ley lines around us to refill our reserves or accomplish a more powerful piece of magic, although doing so was dangerous. Raw magic tended to absorb pieces of the world around it, often becoming attuned to a particular element or emotional echo that was especially prevalent. The strength of a magic user depended upon the size of a person¡¯s inner magical channels and which in turn determined the strength of the ley lines they could tap into and filter safely. If one was contrarily aligned to a particular ley line, trying to use its power would become much harder. In my mom, I could see that there existed in her head a large area that lay in darkness and the natural flow of her life energy seemed to be dammed up behind it, creating a slowly growing pool of life energy next to the dark spot. The sight made my heart leap into my throat as I instinctively realized that the only reason she was still alive right now was because of that excess life energy, but even as it saved her, it was also risky. The energy couldn¡¯t just build up forever, inevitably it would burst, and when that happened, it would most definitely kill her. * * * He stared out through the antique glass windowpane at the moonlit grounds of his father¡¯s family Connecticut home, the soft lighting in the room behind him throwing shadows across his coldly handsome face. A cell phone was held up to his ear and he was speaking harshly to the person on the other end, ¡°Johnson, how long are you just going to sit there twiddling your damn thumbs?! We need that bill passed.¡± He paused a moment, listening, ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear about your problems Johnson, I just want to know why you¡¯re still letting that bitch Fenton block us at every turn. Fucking handle her already! I don¡¯t care how. Dig up some blackmail on her. Heck, even create some. If you don¡¯t think you can do that, just bury the damn woman. You don¡¯t even have to do it yourself, Giovanni owes me a favor. Whatever you decide, just get it done,¡± he turned away from the window, letting the rest of the room into his view. His eyes rested upon a gagged woman bound to his bedposts. The sheets underneath her were dyed red from her blood, and her naked body was an artistic canvas of savage gaping wounds. Her form lay far too still to possibly be still alive, ¡°Don¡¯t fucking screw this up Johnson. You know what I will do to you if you fail.¡± He drew his other hand up from where it had hung out of sight and slowly licked some of the blood covering it off, a sinister light filling his blue eyes, making them literally glow with power, ¡°Don¡¯t disappoint me Johnson.¡± * * * Several time zones away, on the opposite end of the country, a far different conversation was taking place as Brian Hastings spoke to his superior back in D.C, ¡°Yes, Director Whitman, she¡¯ll be ready in time. So far, she has already exceeded all of our expectations for her. I estimate that by the time the month ends, she¡¯ll be as good as any of our field agents, if a bit lacking in actual practical experience. I think she¡¯s got an actual shot at succeeding here. At the least, she¡¯ll definitely be a match for most of those so-called children at that school. I relish the rude awakening anyone who attacks her will get,¡± he smirked at the thought as he listened to his boss on the other side of the phone, ¡°Alright sir, I¡¯ll keep you informed. Goodnight, sir.¡± A snicker burst from his mouth. God, if the director had been anymore giddy he probably would¡¯ve broken out into a jig. He couldn¡¯t blame him either, Jessica had channeled all her grief and determination into her studies and blown all of their predictions out of the water. If she could manage to keep up that level at school, then she¡¯d be a beast of a mage by the time summer came. And she was planning four years of that. Well, they would at least be making vast returns on their initial investment then. It was too early to think about all that yet though, she still needed to survive her first year. That reminded him of something they still needed to do. He shuffled around the papers around on his desk until he found the manila envelope he¡¯d apparently been looking for, a letter and informational packet sent from the Akademiya¡¯s headmistress. Now he just needed Jessica. * * * My trip to the hospital had left me quiet and introspective, so I was glad for the distraction that came in the form of a summons to Mr. Hastings¡¯ office. As I entered, he looked up and waved a sheath of papers at me, ¡°Headmistress Bolormaa finally sent your acceptance papers. We need to check off your class selections and send it back.¡± ¡°Does it say what classes I need for what I want to learn?¡± I asked eagerly. ¡°They¡¯re actually really well-organized, they¡¯ve provided several suggested class tracks to take depending upon what you want to do after your schooling. You¡¯re going to want the Healer¡¯s Track. It tells you all the prerequisites you¡¯ll need for the first Healing Magic class. Your required classes without any prerequisites include Potions I, Biology, Algebra, Runic Magic, Mind Magic, Thread Magic, and Self-Defense.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already taken biology and algebra. And why is self-defense a required class anyways?¡± I protested. ¡°It¡¯s required for all first years. The original founder of the school thought it would be a good idea if the students could protect themselves. They also offer more advanced combative classes that would probably be a good idea for you to take in future years. ¡°As for biology and algebra¡­ Well, you¡¯ll need biology. I bet your high school biology class didn¡¯t go into how magic and life energy interacted with living things, especially the sometimes very different biology of the other races And we could probably get you tested out of algebra, which would then open up chemistry to you. While you could take seven classes, that¡¯s a lot to take for your first year there. ¡± ¡°That still leaves me with one too many classes. Sir, which do you think I should choose?¡± ¡°Well you¡¯ll definitely need to take Self-Defense, Biology, Runes and Mind magic this first year, otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be able to take the later classes you¡¯ll need. That leaves you two classes to choose. Chemistry is normally taken second year, so I wouldn¡¯t worry about it yet.¡± ¡°I like Potions, so if I take that I¡¯ll have five. That leaves me with Thread Magic for the last slot.¡± ¡°Very well. We¡¯ll just check off your choices,¡± he started writing on the class selection sheet, ¡°and write in your request to be tested out of algebra, and voila, it¡¯s ready to be sent out.¡± He waved the completed paper with a flourish. Curious about what other classes I¡¯d need to take in the future, I looked at the rest of the packet still in front of me. Anatomy, Advanced Mind and Rune Magics, my finger followed the suggested class track progression, until it stopped in surprise at one, ¡°Blood magic? I¡¯m surprised that¡¯s a requirement for Advanced Healing.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know much about blood magic, besides that I use the most basic form of it with my runes. I¡¯ve heard true blood magic can do some pretty advanced stuff, rituals, curses, even body enhancement. I¡¯m not really sure of it¡¯s limits or how much is actually true,¡± he shrugged helplessly, ¡°I guess you¡¯ll find out when you get there.¡± I was disconcerted at the strong pull of desire I felt at the thought of performing blood magic. It couldn¡¯t be healthy to be so attracted to something that many would probably consider to be dark magic, but I couldn¡¯t deny my attraction to the idea of it. Ch 3: The Akademiya Chapter 3: The Akademiya The month before school started passed quickly and both my instructors and I were positive that I would be able to handle whatever the school threw at me. They¡¯d given me yesterday to visit my mom and say goodbye to all my friends, a day filled with far more tears and awkward silences than I was comfortable with. My total discomfort with my formerly super close friends highlighted just how much I had changed this summer. I wasn¡¯t a kid anymore, but rather someone who had shouldered the burden of adulthood. It made me sad to think of drifting away from such close friendships, but it was probably for the best. I was entering a dangerous world and being my friend could paint a large target on them. Mr. Hastings stuck his head into my room, ¡°Are you ready Jessica?¡± I snapped closed my trunk and grabbed my carry on bag. With my revolver and knife inside my trunk, I felt as bare as this room. Looking at it I wondered if I was ever going to see it again. I shook my head, I couldn¡¯t let myself think that way, ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± I couldn¡¯t relax at all during the two hours it took to get to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Too wound up, I guess. We checked me in and watched my trunk get carried away on the conveyor belt. Then, before I went through security, Hastings pulled me aside for a private word. Handing me a thin zippered case with a long strap, meant to be worn under my shirt, he told me, ¡°In here is your U.S. Passport and Russian Student Visa. The headmistress was able to rush it through despite the short notice. I¡¯ve also included the paperwork you¡¯ll need to renew your student visa, Yellow Book for verification of international vaccinations, and your official Office of Paranormal Affairs government ID card and badge. I want you to keep that last hidden unless you absolutely need to use it. There¡¯s some spending money in there too, mostly Russian rubles, but I¡¯ve also included some Euros and Chinese Renminbi, as well as some cashier¡¯s checks and a company charge card. Try not to spend it all, it has to last you the year and it¡¯s good to hold some back in case of emergencies.¡± I peeked inside and felt my eyes widen at the amount of bills. Wow, I really hadn¡¯t expected so much. Hastings placed his hand on top of mine and looked me in the eye, ¡°You know it¡¯s not too late. Until you go through the doors of the Academy, you can still turn around and come home.¡± ¡°Your bosses have spent an awful lot of money on me to be very happy if I did that,¡± I responded dryly, trying not to think of that little voice inside me that was just screaming to say ¡®yes.¡¯ ¡°They¡¯d get over it.¡± he grimaced, ¡°Eventually. The point is that you can still choose to say no. Your mom would tell you, a chance for her life is not worth yours.¡± I thought not of my mom lying still in her hospital bed, but instead of a time when I¡¯d seen her laughing, full of life, and a tear came to my eye, ¡°I know she probably wouldn¡¯t want me to do this and I agree my death wouldn¡¯t be worth it, but you¡¯ve trained me well and for the chance to see her up and laughing again - well, I believe the risk is worth it.¡± He stepped back, ¡°Then I guess all I can do is wish you good luck and pray for your safe return.¡± ¡°Thank you Mr. Hastings.¡± ¡°Call me Brian. After all, we¡¯re colleagues now.¡± I smiled, ¡°Alright. Brian, good bye.¡± We shook hands and I got in line for the security check. Two hours later, and I was on my way. The first flight from Sea-Tac to London Heathrow Airport was long. Almost nine hours of time spent sitting in one spot was sheer hell. At least they were good enough to fly me business class and I wasn¡¯t stuck in a chair barely big enough to squeeze into. The food and service weren¡¯t anything to sneeze at either, but nine hours was still an awfully long time. Luckily my next hops would prove to be not quite as long as I went from London to Moscow¡¯s Domodedovo Airport, just over three hours, and then from Moscow to Ulan-Ude¡¯s Lake Baikal Airport, which seemed almost as long at six and a half hours. I spent the time mostly sleeping or reading the Russian phrase book I¡¯d gotten as it had worried me to not be able to speak the language, despite Mr. Hastings, Brian I corrected myself, telling me not to worry. The school apparently had some way for students from all around the world to be able to understand each other. When I became bored at mangling the Russian language, I did however get the bright idea to activate my second sight for a small portion of time. Seeing the world¡¯s energy streams from miles above the surface was an awe inspiring sight. In its own way, just as beautiful as the sunset and sunrise I was privileged to see from the air. I decided to deactivate my sight though when I¡¯d obviously gotten too tired and thought I¡¯d seen my eyes glowing in my window¡¯s reflection. It was lightly snowing when we landed in Ulan-Ude, capital of the Republic of Buryatia and the third largest city in Eastern Siberia and I was very lucky an instructor from the school had agreed to meet me at the airport as I feared trying to make my way there on my own. The man holding a white sign with my name on it looked like a Russian stereotype as he stood bundled in his long coat and flapped-eared fur hat. He must have caught me staring as he spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s called an Ushanka,¡± he said pointing to the fur hat, his Russian accent thick, but still easily understandable, ¡°You must be Jessica, no?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, yes I am,¡° I stammered a bit at being caught out by him. Damn it, I needed to be more collected than this. I took a deep breath and hoping I wouldn¡¯t mangle it too badly, tried to greet him in Russian, ¡°Zdras-tvooy-tyeh.¡± He grinned, showing slightly enlarged canines, and held out his hand, ¡°Oleksy Biryukov, I will be your Potions professor. I also teach Chemistry and Alchemy. Your pronunciation wasn¡¯t too bad, although your accent was horrible.¡± I blushed, ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t able to get much practice in.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± he barked, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You did more than most bother with, but come, we should be leaving. It¡¯s getting late and we must still travel over one hundred kilometers to get to the portal.¡± He helped me wheel my trunk outside to a parked car as we continued to speak. ¡°So what is this portal anyways?¡± I asked breathily, huffing a little bit from the cold and exertion of moving the trolley through the snow. ¡°Lake Baikal contains twenty percent of the world¡¯s fresh water and due it¡¯s size, mountainous location, and the unpredictable weather of the region, it can be extremely dangerous. Instead of trying to ferry students and faculty across it, some of our first graduates years ago created a portal that would directly transport one across the lake to the Academy on Olkhon Island.¡± I seemed to be overflowing with anticipatory nervousness, so even though I was exhausted from my travel, I was easily able to engage fully and eagerly in conversation with my new teacher as we wound through the lunch traffic. We talked about his classes and what I would be learning, the school itself, its history and basic layout, and some of the other teachers. I couldn¡¯t help but comment on his amiability towards a human however and was both reassured and warned by his answer. ¡°I am unusual in that I went to a human university for my major studies. I have quite fond memories of my time there and because of that a small fondness for your race, but don¡¯t make the mistake of thinking me to be a typical example of the reception you will receive. I expect most of the other professors to be quite a bit harder on you than the other students.¡± He looked sad at the thought, ¡°Your life here will be quite a bit more difficult than most of our students experience, but I at least will be quietly rooting for you.¡± I didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, so instead let the conversation drift off, leaving us in a semi-comfortable silence until we finally arrived at our destination. The portal, when we reached it, was a giant stone structure half buried in snow and thick with rune carvings. Even without activating my second sight I could feel the amount of power tied to the arch and was suitably impressed. Biryukov took out a stone pendant that looked remarkably similar in stone type to the portal itself as well as a knife. He removed a glove and slashed his palm, smearing his blood on the pendant, before inserting it into a notch seemingly designed for that purpose. Energy swirled between its sides, becoming visible to the normal spectrum for a moment as a kaleidoscope of color, before stabilizing into the image of a torch-lined stone hallway. ¡°Please step through,¡± he gestured towards the corridor. I grabbed hold of my trunk, glad for the wheels attached to one edge and stepped over the threshold. The warm air that burst over me was a welcome change from the prior cold and I looked around curiously as Mr. Biryukov stepped through and the portal swirled closed behind him in a duplicate of the arch we¡¯d left behind on the lakeshore. Following him, we walked down the long windowless hallway, its bare walls broken only by the occasional door and thankfully many torches. At last we turned a corner and went up some stairs to what I was told was the main floor. Even though we were no longer underground, the passageways were still lit only by the ever-present torches as the windows were tightly shuttered, rattling from the strong winds just beyond. The building seemed strangely empty to me as we walked, with no other people visibly around. Mr. Biryukov explained that the headmistress had apparently thought it to be a good idea for me to get me settled in before the rest of the students arrived tomorrow. As we wandered, he helpfully pointed out the locations of particular classrooms, teacher offices, the cafeteria, library, gymnasium, and student computer lab. Only the library, computer lab, and teacher¡¯s offices were lit by electricity, the rest lit again by torchlight. The school had their own generator, but the headmistress preferred the gentler ambiance provided by the torches and so kept them as the main lighting source of the school. The one place that really delighted me when I was shown it, was the inner courtyard, a place that had seemingly forgotten that winter had come and was filled with warm air, green plants, and a strange assortment of birds that had somehow found refuge there. The greenhouses for the botany courses were aligned against one wall within. Finally our tour ended at the student dormitories at the top of the building and I was told to pick an empty room. Peeking inside a few, I discovered that they each had their own bathroom, a closet, bed, dresser, and desk, pretty much identical except for whether or not they had a window. I chose a corner room with two windows and thanked my new professor for his help. Before he left, he reminded me to read the rules and notices on my desk provided along with the key for the room and my Algebra exemption test, which I would need to complete and hand in to the Algebra instructor tomorrow morning. Then he handed me a complicated looking earring that consisted of several tiny metal runes linked in a dangling row. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, looking at it curiously. ¡°It¡¯s your translation charm. As long as you keep this in an ear you will be able to understand anyone else, regardless of their spoken language. It¡¯s standard issue wear for everyone here.¡± He explained, lifting his left furry hat flap to show the one he himself was wearing, ¡°It is yours to keep. To activate it, just coat it with some of your blood.¡± I held it up to look at it closely, ¡°Cool.¡± One side of his mouth twitched in amusement, ¡°Yes it is. Anyways, here is your schedule. If you look at it you¡¯ll see breakfast is served from seven to eight in the morning, lunch from twelve until one, and dinner runs from five until eight in the evening. A wake up bell will ring an hour before breakfast starts, and at the beginning of every meal and class period. Classes will start the day after tomorrow, so I suggest you spend that time getting your rooms in order. You are allowed to put any protections on your room that you deem necessary, so long as they are non-lethal. Any alterations needed for such are allowed and the repair costs were already included in your tuition. And now with that, I shall bid you a good night.¡± After he left, and deciding to get it out of the way first, I sped through the waiting algebra test. Then, still running apparently on an adrenaline high, I went to my trunk to get out my rune carving kit, a vial of acid, some brushes, and the dry-ice filled pouch that contained several vials of my own blood. It had taken days to safely drain enough for what I was going to need and if I wanted to get my room protected before the other students got here, I had better ignore the tiredness creeping up in my bones and get started. I began with a clever little rune trap I¡¯d created that would electrically shock anyone trying to unlock the door without the proper key. Using the acid I¡¯d brought I etched the necessary symbols into my door lock and key. Then I ran a wire coated in my blood and shaped into additional runes from the door plate to a close-by electrical output, and after charging the acid-etched runes with more of my blood, the whole configuration was now good to go. Next I etched into the hinges and also the larger wooden part of the door strengthening runes, so that no one could just break the door down. Then, I moved on to the windows, only taking a brief break around six for dinner in an eerily empty cafeteria before going back to work. By the time I¡¯d finished doing my best to make sure no one would be able to enter the room physically or magically without my permission, my eyes were drooping and I couldn¡¯t seem to stop yawning. It was long past midnight and not even bothering to undress, I gratefully passed out on my still unmade bed. * * * The bell toll boomed, sending vibrations ringing through my skull and bringing me with a jolt to full awareness. Ugh, I wiped at my eyes, that was going to get old very quickly. Knowing I needed the sustenance breakfast would bring, I pulled my protesting body out of bed and started digging through my trunk for a fresh set of clothes and my shower things. I felt somewhat better after my shower and cheerfully dug out my thick leather jacket that would help protect my torso and hide my weapons, the revolver in its shoulder holster and silver knife in its sheath at the small of my back. A few sprays of the scent neutralizer potion and a quickly bloodied translator earring added the final touches to my outfit. I grabbed my test, and was ready to go. Entering the cafeteria I could see several of what I assumed were my professors. There was an exotic woman with skin and hair as black as night. Her hair done up in a series of intricate knots and braids and entwined with a riot of colored ribbons. She wore in contrast a sleeveless button up white dress that shimmered under the torch light, and binding her arms were even more of the bright ribbons, the patterns seemingly purposeful if chaotic, and the whole ensemble strangely striking. And speaking of striking, talking with her at her side was an extremely handsome man, one who at first glance didn¡¯t appear to be anything other than an extremely dark-skinned human, though I knew better to believe that. At their same table was a pale woman with spiky white hair, an eye-catching blue teardrop jewel earring, and a mouth full of wickedly sharp teeth and what I could only assume to be, a dwarf. I couldn¡¯t tell whether the dwarf was male or female, as even the females of that race had full beards. This particular one¡¯s beard was a reddish brown, laced and braided with tiny beads that looked remarkably similar to those found on my translation earring. I served myself some food from the steam table and chose a seat on the opposite side of the table next to them. I could see them occasionally throw an eye at me, but they didn¡¯t say a word to me. Keeping my head down, I pretended a strong interest in my eggs as I listened to their conversations. Doing so, I learned that the beribboned woman was Adriana Ricci, the thread magic instructor, the handsome man was a daemon called Marcel that taught mind magic, the pale fanged woman was Headmistress Bolormaa, and the dwarf, Yuri, apparently a female, taught runes.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As I listened and slowly ate my breakfast, I watched the other instructors trickle into the room. There was a slender man with green hair dressed in dirty coveralls, two black haired Asians - a short male with blue-tinted skin and a shorter woman who wore an elaborate iron filigree choker and whose every visible inch of skin seemed to be covered in rune-shaped scars. When Professor Biryukov came in, he gave me a little wave before heading to the food line. Other instructors included a figure dressed head to toe in filmy rags that seemed to wave from a nonexistent wind, another dark-skinned probable daemon who shot me an extremely disdainful glance when he entered, a graceful woman whose skin seemed to be covered in a fine white feathery down, and an Indian woman wearing a sari and whose lower half was that of a giant snake. It was this last professor I approached after discarding my food tray, recognizing her from Biryukov¡¯s description yesterday as the Algebra instructor. ¡°Professor Shah, here¡¯s my exemption test,¡± I handed it over nervously. She looked down her nose at me, like an insect she wanted to squash, ¡°You¡¯ll be informed if you failed.¡± Disappointed with her attitude even though I¡¯d known to expect it and uncomfortable with the stares I could feel coming from the other teachers, I mumbled a thank you and fled from the cafeteria as quickly as I could without actually seeming to. Once out of the room I could almost feel the pressure of their disdain lift from my shoulders and I wondered anew whether I would be able to handle being surrounded by such negativity day in and day out. I supposed I no longer had a choice though, I was at the Academy now to stay. Closing the door to my room, I felt comforted by the existence of my wards and started unpacking. Setting up my room took all morning, and as I did so, I could hear the other students begin to arrive. They were noisy too, loud thumps as they moved their luggage, shouts as old friends greeted each other, and then finally an insistent knocking at my door. Hesitantly opening it, I was greeted by a brightly grinning russet-haired boy. ¡°Hi!¡± he said cheerfully, thrusting out one lightly tanned hand that I tentatively shook, ¡°My name¡¯s Miguel, I¡¯m your new neighbor. I¡¯m a first year and a were fox, and you,¡± he leaned in to take a deep sniff of me before adopting an adorably confused expression, ¡°I can¡¯t tell what you are. How do you do that?¡± he excitedly asked. I blinked, a little stunned, I knew that the scent neutralizer was effective but I hadn¡¯t expected it to be able to disguise my species. A grin popped onto my face, apparently my secret was going to be safe for a little while longer. This could be fun, ¡°It¡¯s a family secret,¡± I fibbed, ¡°My name''s Jessica, and I think I¡¯ll just let you keep guessing what I am.¡± His jaw dropped, ¡°But that¡¯s no fair! I told you what I am,¡± he whined. My eyes twinkled, ¡°That¡¯s your own fault, besides it¡¯s more fun this way.¡± He placed his hand under his chin before giving me a very obvious look up and down, ¡°Hmm, well your traits aren¡¯t immediately obvious, no fangs or claws, no colored hair or pointed ears. You have shoes on so I can¡¯t tell if you have six toes on your feet. Huh, I¡¯m stumped. Will you tell me if I at least guess right?¡± I looked him over, thinking of how his whole personality seemed to remind me of a hyperactive puppy and shrugged, ¡°Eh, sure. Why not.¡± ¡°Sweet. So what track are you planning on taking?¡± Track, I briefly wondered before remembering that the classes here were organized into career tracks, ¡°Healing. What about you?¡± ¡°Magical Construction. I¡¯m going to be my clan¡¯s Builder. Hey look at that ward scheme!¡± he exclaimed excitedly, catching sight of the runes etched into my door lock, ¡°That¡¯s totally awesome! You got to show me what it does.¡± ¡°Electrocutes burglars,¡± I dryly replied. He looked even more impressed at my answer, ¡°Wow that¡¯s way more advanced than anything I¡¯ve learned so far. Why do you want to be a Healer anyways? You¡¯d be awesome as a Warder.¡± My mood quieted and so did my words, ¡°I have someone I need to heal.¡± Realizing he¡¯d obviously struck a nerve, he backed off, waving his hands nervously, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be just as good a Healer!¡± I cracked a grin at his antics, ¡°It¡¯s fine, you couldn¡¯t know. And,¡± I imitated my friend Shelley¡¯s hair flip, ¡°I am good at runes.¡± His grin came back, ¡°Cool. Hey, do you want to grab some grub together? It¡¯s just about time for lunch.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I thought, glad I¡¯d seemed to have just made a friend, ¡°Let me just lock my door.¡± Lunch was fun, filled with jokes and shared stories of our previous lives. I learned that Miguel, last name Teros, was from Columbia, had a very large extended family, loved to eat crab, and played soccer. We looked over each other¡¯s class schedules and found out that we would be together in Runes, Biology, Mind Magics, and of course Self-Defense. Our classes were each two hours long and spread out in a block format Monday through Saturday. After lunch we wandered around the school, with me pointing out the main features and spending much of that time in what I called the Ever-green courtyard and the Library. I picked up a healing book that compared the various magical species to take back with me when we finally headed back to the dorms. * * * Entering Self-Defense the next day, my first class at the Academy, I was nervous, especially considering the cold glare that had been thrown at me only yesterday by the instructor. Professor Abbas ibn Saab, one of the two African men I had seen yesterday, at least didn¡¯t seem to treat me any noticeably differently as he ordered us into a similar series of tests that Leon had made me do only months before. Despite fearing my abilities, or lack thereof, were about to out me as a human, I performed a lot better than I expected. Probably thanks to my summer of intense training. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself falling somewhere into the lower-middle rankings in terms of strength and speed. After determining where we stood, the professor then divided us in half according to whether or not we had any prior defensive training. Here was where Miguel and I split up, as even though we were of similar rankings, he hadn¡¯t been trained. When I walked over to my designated side, I could see some of the vamps and lycanthropes of the group eyeing me, mostly in curiosity, but there were a few whose faces seemed to shout out that they had just discovered prey. It was one of these last that got selected to be my sparring partner. ¡°Hey cutie, are you sure you¡¯re in the right place?¡± the western-style vampire taunted me, visibly running his tongue over his fangs. Careful Jess, don¡¯t let him get to you, you¡¯re supposed to be playing meek. I let my nervousness show, ¡°I know a little bit of self-defense.¡± My little show seemed to please him as he flashed his fangy grin, ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just find out how much you actually know.¡± ¡°Begin!¡± Shouted Professor ibn Saab. Fast! I thought as the vamp rushed at me, and I barely blocked his blow in time. And strong too, my arm was more than a bit numb from where I had deflected his clawed hand, but I didn¡¯t have time to contemplate it as he began to rain a furious batch of blows on me. The next few minutes were hell and I no longer had to fake my panic as I barely managed to keep up. I thanked every deity I¡¯d ever heard of that I¡¯d decided to keep my heavy leather jacket on despite how much I sweat underneath it, because I was sure my clothes and skin would have been slashed to ribbons without it. I could tell he wasn¡¯t even giving his all either, because as soon as he decided to stop playing around, he was behind me, with my one arm trapped against his chest and his fangs at my throat. From the corner of my eye, I could see the professor watching, but he made no move to interfere. ¡°I wonder what you might taste like, cutie,¡± he whispered. Oh hell no! I panicked, and was glad it was my left arm that was bound, as I reached into my jacket and pulled out my revolver. A quick flick and the safety was off and then it was pointed at his now frozen head, ¡°Back the fuck off.¡± ¡°So the cutie¡¯s got a bite of her own,¡± he commented as he let go and slowly backed away, keeping his hands in sight. ¡°Enough!¡± Yelled the professor, ¡°I¡¯ve seen all I need to. Separate and go on back to your rooms to shower. I eyed my opponent in front of me, ¡°Are we done here?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± he shrugged with that shit-eating grin. Wary but seeing no other choice, I flipped the safety back on and reholstered the gun, trying to keep him in my sight as I turned towards the door. ¡°Hey cutie!¡± he called, making me pause, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Jessica Langden.¡± ¡°Jessica,¡± his voice seemed to caress the word, ¡°I¡¯m Peter Stojakovic. I¡¯m looking forward to the fun I shall have with you.¡± I shuddered and hurried out, knowing that as I did so he continued to watch me with that creepy ass grin of his. So much for lying low. ¡°Hey Jess! Wait up,¡± Miguel called from behind me, and I paused to wait for him, ¡°What was up with all of that in there?¡± he demanded, ¡°I mean you pulled a gun on him. I didn¡¯t even know you had one. Are you even allowed to have one? I mean, a gun! Wow!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not against the rules.¡± ¡°Well, cool, but what the heck did he even do anyways? I couldn¡¯t see from across the room.¡± ¡°He thought it¡¯d be a good idea to try and bite me in our spar. I refuse to be fang bait!¡± I bit out, still angry at the whole situation. ¡°Woah, that was ballsy of him. I mean, on the first day!¡± he exclaimed bouncing as he walked backwards so that he could stay facing me. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be surprised. He is a Stojakovic after all,¡± the Asian girl who interjected was petite, with a heart shaped face. Dressed all in whites and blacks, she wore a lacy wide scooped-neck shirt that prominently displayed the ring of red runes around her neck, short lacy gloves, and an even shorter, layered ruffled skirt that completed the look and was entirely inappropriate for the activities we¡¯d just been doing. ¡°You mean there¡¯s a reason besides that he¡¯s simply an asshole?¡± I asked incredulously. She paused to look at us, ¡°You two really have no idea do you?¡± Obviously taking our clueless expressions as an answer, she continued, ¡°The Stojakovics are the vampire family of Europe. They can trace their bloodline back to Vlad the Impaler. They¡¯re practically royalty. All of the members are much stronger than most of the others of their kind too. He probably thought it was his just due to take a taste.¡± Double shit, ¡°Well he thought wrong. I¡¯m no one''s food.¡± ¡°Hehehe,¡± her laugh tinkled delicately from behind one hand, ¡°Oh dear, we¡¯re all food for someone. It¡¯s cute that you think otherwise. So adorably na?ve. I think I shall have to collect you.¡± What the fucking hell, ¡°Excuse me?¡± She waved her hand airily in my direction, ¡°Oh you know. Collectible, friend, it¡¯s all the same thing.¡± Was she actually serious? Damn creepy ass vampires. ¡°My name is Isra,¡± she pressed her gloved hands together and gave a slight bow, ¡°And may I ask the name of my precocious new collectible?¡± ¡°Jessica,¡± I replied, completely baffled. ¡°Delightful. Well Jessica, I need to freshen up, so if we share our next class hopefully I¡¯ll be able to sit next to you, otherwise I¡¯ll see you at lunch.¡± and with that she flounced away. ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± Miguel asked, looking like he¡¯d just seen a UFO. I shook my head, amused despite myself, ¡°I think I just made a friend.¡± I hurried back to my room to shower and redress so that I could make it to my next class. Hurrying into the classroom I looked around for Isra and seeing her beckoning toward me I hurried over. I didn¡¯t get a chance to say hi as just barely after I¡¯d sat down the Professor began speaking. ¡°Alright class,¡± the professor clapped her beribboned hands together, ¡°My name is Adriana Ricci and welcome to Thread Magic. Thread magic is a beautiful magic that relies on the strength of your will and the invisible bonds that exist between all things. Using thread or ribbons or even hair,¡± she pointed to her elaborate braids, ¡°or anything similar really, a thread mage can perform a number of different magics. ¡°For example,¡± she leaned forward to pluck a dark hair from the student in front of her, ¡°I can take a strand of his hair and tie a knot in it,¡± she performed said action and caused the student to yelp in pain as he grabbed his leg, ¡°and give him a charlie horse.¡± She untied the knot and released the magic bound within before smirking and continuing, ¡°If your will is strong enough, you don¡¯t even need a physical connection to a person to do that. Although the less of a connection that exists, the harder the magic is to perform and the more power it will take. Luckily however, you can use certain braiding techniques to store power for later use. You can also use braids and knots to store ready-made spells.¡± She pulled a loose bit of blue ribbon on her arm and as it unraveled, a blue ball of energy collected in her fingertips, which she then casually tossed in our direction. We all ducked in surprise as the energy broke up and suddenly turned into tiny balls of water that harmlessly splashed everyone. ¡°Thread magic is used in healing, magical construction and technomancy. Advanced thread magic combines runes and weaving to create powerful lasting spells and clothes with unique capabilities. Now everyone, get out something to write with and note this down¡­¡± The rest of the class was spent taking notes on the theory of thread magic and then we were set to practicing. Using just our wills and imagination Professor Ricci told us to make a connection between a thread and a frog. Our goal being to knot the thread and thus magically bind the frog from moving. After many frustrating tries, I finally managed this task by coating the thread with frog spit, then imagining and willing the thread to be linked to the spinal cord so that when I tied a knot, it paralyzed the frog. Apparently this kind of binding would be enormously harder and more complicated on a larger, thinking being, especially if they were magical and could thus oppose it with both their will and their magic. Monday was a short day for me, with only the two morning classes, so once Thread Magic was over I was done for the day and headed down to lunch with Isra, chatting lightly as we went. As we got our food, I grimaced at her plate of spaghetti complete with a blood and wine sauce and the glass that contained fresh and steaming hot blood. ¡°Everyone¡¯s food dear,¡± she reminded me with a small smile as we sat next to Miguel who¡¯d held the table for us. ¡°If everyone¡¯s food,¡± Miguel interrupted, ¡°Then whose are you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± She tapped one finger gently against her chin, ¡°Well I suppose someone must sit at the top of the food chain.¡± ¡°Ha! You¡¯d only be good for the carrion crows!¡± She looked peeved, ¡°You know little fox, you probably wouldn¡¯t taste any good, but I have no problem with feasting on you anyways.¡± ¡°You want to try it!¡± Miguel dared half standing over me puffed up in anger. I so did not need this, ¡°Hey guys, cool it . If you want to play who¡¯s the bigger, badder monster that¡¯s fine. Just don¡¯t do it with me in the middle. Go do it somewhere else on your own time.¡± ¡°He might need to try and prove himself, but I already know where I stand.¡± Isra sniffed. ¡°Why I ought a¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough! Miguel, sit down already. Can¡¯t you tell she¡¯s needling you on purpose? And Isra,¡± I turned to her, ¡°If you want to be my friend, as you said you did, you can try to get along with my other friends. Geeze, you two are like a couple of children.¡± ¡°Yes mom,¡± Miguel replied cheekily. God, this was going to be a long year. * * * John Whitman, Director of the U.S Office of Paranormal Affairs sat in the guest stands of the North American Interspecies Council, seething at his inability to actively participate. ¡°I¡¯ve had five of my people disappear traveling though the Ozarks just this past month. I want you to get your clans under control before we decide we need to take action!¡± The vampire from St. Louis wasn¡¯t really upset at the loss of his men, he was more angry at the loss of his drug shipments. ¡°What proof have you that they were ever in our lands? Maybe they just decided they¡¯d rather not work for you anymore.¡± The green-skinned representative of the Ozark Goblin Clans Collective smiled, showing rows of shark-like teeth. Everyone knew they had waylaid the vamp¡¯s runners, the drugs they were carrying were considered valuable potions ingredients by the goblins and the fresh meat was just a bonus. ¡°It¡¯s all so tedious, isn¡¯t it?¡± the attractive blond haired woman seated nearby looked human, but he knew that looks were often deceiving and the likelihood of a human being here that he couldn¡¯t recognize was pretty small. ¡°That¡¯s not exactly the word I would have chosen,¡± he replied with cautious diplomacy. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure it isn¡¯t, but to me this is tedious. We all can guess what will happen. Clan Guerrero will come up with proof, the goblins will be forced to pay compensation, they¡¯ll come to an agreement for future business and then everyone will be happy until the next situation.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be happy, but none of them even care that drug trafficking is illegal in this country.¡± he angrily replied. ¡°Illegal for humans,¡± she shrugged in clear dismissal. ¡°Yeah, for humans,¡± he agreed, bitterness lacing his tone. ¡°They all underestimate your species,¡± she commented, ¡°You have such potential. It¡¯s just a pity that it remains mostly unrealized still. Though, I wonder if that would change if the secret was ever broke to your magical nulls.¡± There was no visible change to her, but his danger sense suddenly screamed a warning at him, as she looked at him before gracefully rising to leave. She threw her departing words back to him, ¡°Just some food for thought, Director.¡± Ch 4: A Secret Uncovered Chapter 4: A Secret Uncovered After a lunch where we learned that Isra was from Thailand and was taking seven classes because she had ambitiously decided to try to do both the Alchemist and Green Mage Tracks simultaneously, we retreated to the Library. While Miguel searched the stacks for something interesting to read, Isra and I started in on our Thread Magic homework. Isra managed to complete hers just before they had to leave for Algebra, and I finished soon after. With nothing else to do, I pulled out the book I¡¯d borrowed the previous day and was soon lost in the fascinating world of magical physiology. ¡°You know babe if you want to know how the vampire body works, I¡¯d be happy to show you mine.¡± I sighed in irritation, lowering my book until I could see the smirking nuisance that stood across the table from me. ¡°Stojakovic, why the hell are you bothering me?¡± He grinned, ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fun. Besides, I¡¯ve not got much else to do right now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have friends to bother, or sycophants to entertain you?¡± I asked, rolling my eyes. A brief shadow flickered over his eyes before his face cranked the watts up again, ¡°Nope! I¡¯m all yours.¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t want you to be mine, so go away.¡± I retorted. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be like that,¡± I froze in shock as I found myself suddenly entrapped by his arm, his speed too quick for my eye to even see. He leaned over and I tensed even more as he began to whisper in my ear, ¡°You see cutie, you may not want me to be yours, but I¡¯ve decided that you belong to me now. And I don¡¯t care what you want because you aren¡¯t strong enough to stop me,¡± he grazed a fang against my ear lobe, ¡°but if you¡¯re a good girl for me I¡¯ll put you under my own personal protection and you won¡¯t have to worry your pretty little head about anyone else bothering you.¡± He pulled away suddenly, ¡°Why don¡¯t I just let you think about that for a little while. For your own sake you should agree, but I do dearly hope you won¡¯t. Hunting you promises to be so much fun.¡± I sat there stunned for a full minute after he left before bolting to my dormitory room as fast as possible, not even noticing in my panic as I sped past the arguing pair of Miguel and Isra, their faces startled at my passage. I fumbled with my key trying to unlock my door and as soon as I got it open and me inside, I slammed it shut again before collapsing to the floor, my body overcome with violent shaking. My mind seemed stuck on a repetitive loop of, ¡°Shit, shit, shit, oh shit!¡± A sudden tentative knocking on the door behind me shocked me fast out of my terror and I took a few deep breaths before speaking up, ¡°Yes?¡± I recognized Isra¡¯s voice, ¡°Jessica dear, is everything alright?¡± Miguel piped in too, ¡°Yeah, we saw you streak by like a bat out hell was after you.¡± I shakily stood up, ¡°I¡¯m fine guys. Nothing for you to worry about.¡± ¡°Jess, you were crying,¡± Miguel softly countered. I swiped quickly at my eyes. Shit, I had been crying. ¡°Could we please come in?¡± Isra asked. I took another breath before letting them in, watching in silence as they looked around the room before turning to me. ¡°So who do I get to beat up?¡± asked Miguel. His question shook a quick hysteric laugh out of me causing me to dig my fingernails into my palm in an effort to forcibly calm myself down, ¡°It was Stojakovic again.¡± A long glance was shared between the two, before Isra reached out for my hand, soothing it out of the tense fist and then pulling me over to sit beside her on the bed., ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what happened.¡± It didn¡¯t take long to explain. I knew there was no chance in hell of being able to get out of this on my own. I would need their help. I just hoped I would be able to keep my secret in the process. * * * I slept poorly that night after they left, my emotional exhaustion causing me to skip dinner in favor of sleep, but the many nightmares throughout the night ensured that when I walked into my potions class the next day I was still exhausted, despite the extra sleep. I woke up quick enough however when I looked up and saw Peter Stojakovic leering openly at me, his hand gesturing to the empty seat beside him. Isra, seeing this glared at him and grabbed my wrist to drag me to the only other open seat. Pushing me down firmly into it as she stalked over to take the seat next to the now irritated vampire. I firmly kept my head down as I fussed with my books and equipment, sighing in relief as Prof. Biryukov strode into the room and stood at the front of the classroom, staring at us until we were all quiet and paying him attention. ¡°I am Professor Oleksy Biryukov and here at the Academy I teach chemistry, alchemy, and of course potions. This is why you are all here, yes? Well, this school expects each of you to already know the basics of potion making, so we will just jump right in. If you have not done any in the past, see me after class so that I can help you get caught up. Now, I hope you have chosen your seats wisely because they will be permanent for the rest of the semester. Take a moment to make the acquaintance of your neighbor as they will be your occasional partner when the potion calls for it.¡± I heard Isra groan softly from across the room as she realized she had gotten stuck with my own personal vampire nuisance. Though she might now share him with me. I snorted a little in amusement before finally looking next to me to see who I would be sharing my workstation with. His height was the first thing that struck me seeing as he was only about three and a half feet in height, his feet dangling a good bit off the floor from his chair. Turning towards me I was surprised by golden eyes that took up the entire eye, his pupil an oval laid horizontally, horse¡¯s eyes I thought. ¡°I¡¯m Jessica Langden,¡± I said, taking the initiative and sticking my hand out for him to shake. One of the pointed ears atop his head twitched as he replied in soft Irish lilt, ¡°Brian Wilde,¡± the silver chain links attached to the manacle on his wrist clinked gently as we shook hands, ¡°I hope our time working together will be enjoyable.¡± I didn¡¯t have a chance to reply as our professor then began to speak again forcing our attention back to the front so we could learn how to make the Sleepy Time potion. After class was over, I took a chance and invited Brian to sit with my friends and I at lunch. Nodding an affirmative, he replied, ¡°That would be acceptable.¡± I shot him a small grin as I hefted my bag onto my shoulder, carefully not looking Peter¡¯s way as Isra and Brian fell into step on either side of me, a barrier I was internally grateful to have against the dangerous vampire. As we walked towards the cafeteria I noticed Isra eye the small being beside me, prompting me out of my silence, ¡°Isra I¡¯d like you to meet Brian. Brian, this is Isra.¡± ¡°A pleasure,¡± Isra replied with a head bob and a cute smile, one fang carefully showing. Brian returned the nod stoically, ¡°I¡¯m glad to make your acquaintance.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Isra replied arching one delicately shaped eyebrow. ¡°Yes of course. You are Isra, the youngest child of the Thai Chao Pho Arthit, correct?¡± Isra straightened, suddenly serious, ¡°I am. Although now I am wondering how you know of me.¡± ¡°My full name is Brian Wilde, son of Ciaran Wilde, the Bailitheoir Anamacha of the Sluagh Sidhe¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Isra sighed in satisfaction, her suspicion instantly fading as I just gawked in bewilderment, my head turning from one to the other in confusion. ¡°Chao Pho what? Baili- whatever? I thought these earrings,¡± I tugged on the one attached to my own ear, ¡°were supposed to translate for us, but that all sounded like gibberish to me.¡± Isra sniffed in disdain, one side of her mouth quirked in a little smirk of amusement, but didn¡¯t say anything. Seeing that she obviously wasn¡¯t going to deign to explain, Brian offered up the answer, ¡°Chao Pho literally means ¡®godfather,¡¯ a title given to the head of major Thai crime families. Her father Arthit is well known as a supplier of rare and illegal goods. As for myself, a Bailitheoir Anamacha,¡± he carefully sounded it out, ¡°can be translated as ¡®Collector of souls.¡¯ It is both title and job description and very important to how my people, the Sluagh Sidhe, a type of fae, bolster our numbers. I myself plan on following in my father¡®s footsteps.¡± I was silent, pondering the new information as we got in line for our food. Carefully taking note as the fae filled his tray with mostly raw meat and as we sat and began to eat I also analyzed the rows of shark-like teeth carefully shredding his meat. Finally reaching an internal decision, and as he¡¯d offered no insult or threat to me, I verbally extended a welcoming hand, querying, ¡°Is it because you wish to be a Collector of souls that you are dressed like that?¡± Looking at his wispy black robes and silver manacled chains. ¡°Yeah what¡¯s up with that whole wraith look anyways?¡± Miguel suddenly asked, plopping down next to me and across from Isra and Brian, ¡°Cause I gotta tell you man, all the chains and manacles, screams total masochist to me.¡± ¡°You know this from experience?¡± Isra shot the quick retort. Miguel stammered and flushed red and though Brian¡¯s question was soon forgotten between the ensuing battle of barbs, judging from the small smile on his face our small group had just gone up one in number. * * * I was excited heading towards my first Biology class of the year and even seeing Peter also in attendance didn¡¯t deter my enthusiasm any, especially since I had Isra, Miguel, and Brian sitting all around me at our four person lab table. Our Professor Davi Pereira, at least that was who I guessed he was, judging from the name on the board, was setting out one to each person a microscope, Petri dish filled with what looked like algae or fungi, jar with insects, small potted plant, or even a small animal. Despite the long green hair that fell from his topknot, it did not get tangled or stuck to the various items he was handling, somehow remaining pristine and clean even as it brushed across the stained and dirty brown leather vest and pants that covered his tanned golden skin. Heading to the front, he began, ¡°Alright you meat bags, shut up and write this down!¡± he gave only the briefest of pauses before continuing as we scrambled for papers and pen, ¡°Biology is the science of life, of living organisms and how they interact with each other. All living organisms consist of one or more cells that are highly ordered. All living things respond to stimuli like how plants grow toward light and your pupils dilate in response to a lack of it. All organisms are capable of growth, development, and reproduction, with each one possessing hereditary molecules that are passed on to their offspring. All organisms interact with other organisms and the environment in ways that influence survival leading to evolutionary adaptations. All organisms maintain relatively constant internal conditions, different from their environment, called homeostasis. And lastly, all living things take in energy and use it to do various tasks. This last is especially important to you walking bags of fertilizer cause besides the cyclic transfer of natural or life energy there is also the existence of that energy we use called magic. While most of the year will be spent drilling the basics of biology into your pitiful brains, from cell structure to the differences between the various kingdoms and how each basic type of individual living organism is made up, this week we¡¯ll be doing something special. Now how many of you have accessed your second sight?¡± Cautiously peeking around as I slowly raised my own hand, I saw most of the class with their hands up, leaving only a few to blink around in evident confusion. ¡°Well that at least gives me the slight hope that some of you might be worth more than plant food. Those of you who have no clue what I¡¯m talking about better get with someone who does after class cause I¡¯m not gonna bother to hold the rest of the class back for you. Alright now, in front of each of you is some form of non-magical living organism. Those of you who are able,¡± he sneered in obvious derision at those incapable, ¡°should access your second sight now. Complying, I opened my eyes, then opened them again, watching as the world exploded into a swirl of energies flowing around and through the various pools that were my classmates'' cores. Looking to my left I saw a core composed of a rich reddish brown swirled with brighter red flecks and bright emerald green threads and loops pulsing through it, Isra I thought. Across from me, Brian¡¯s core was a dark starry night dotted with silver stars and partially covered by shifting wisps of shadow. Expecting a brown or grey orb when I looked kitty-corner at Miguel, I was surprised and amused to see what appeared to be a golden hourglass filled with red and grey sand that as I watched seemed to endlessly fall with no visible change in the amount that was contained in the top or bottom. In curiosity, I looked over at Peter Stojakovic and saw a bright silvery grey shield splashed with vibrant streaks of red. I shuddered at the warlike image and was glad to turn my attention back to the front. Prof. Pereira, whose core was a mass of green and black vines, continued, ¡°I want you all to now concentrate on the living organism that is on the table before you,¡± the marigold in front of me was softly lit by a gentle green glow that came from within it, ¡°Okay, now imagine sinking your consciousness down into the life before you, shrinking until you fit inside, twisting and flowing with every limb, pathway, and cell. If possible, try to shrink yourself smaller and smaller, take in every detail you can.¡± His voice trailed off as we sought to follow his directions. I pulled in my consciousness, twisting it into a thin rope, then mentally dived towards the flower. It was easier then I had expected and soon I was lost in the myriad parts of the plant, mentally focusing on each tiny section in turn. The cells involved in photosynthesis particularly caught my attention and I watched for a good long while as they took in the neutral whitish life energy along with the carbon dioxide from the air. It was fascinating following the energy, seeing it slowly turn green as it began flowing in pathways along the plant, the tiniest of trickles entering and exiting each cell. Finally of course, the teacher¡¯s voice brought us up out of our trances, ¡°Come on everyone, it¡¯s time to head back out to reality. Up, up, up, up. Yes that¡¯s right, good little meat bags, be one with your puny flesh again.¡± Seeing in us the liveliness flow back into our eyes, he continued, ¡°Now this technique is a really handy one, and is actually the beginning stage of the healer¡¯s trance. We won¡¯t be using it much in this class, but it would be a good idea for all of you to practice on your own outside of it. For homework I want each of you to prepare a paper detailing not only this experience but also all you can tell me about the specific living organism in front of you. Do some research if you need to. Since you all have a different thing, none of you can cheat,¡± he threw a nasty grin our way, ¡°Our next lesson will be an extra special treat before we head into cell biology. I¡¯m going to be pairing each of you up at random and next class you¡¯re going to perform that same deep body scan you just did, only on your partner.¡± A burst of whispers and sounds of surprise filled the air around me as my heart began to sink. He picked up a list from his desk and after clearing his throat, began, ¡°Nicando Ortega Fernandez, you will be paired with the Siamese twins Geir and Fridmar along with Vicente Mistral. Jessica Langden,¡± a dark glint entered his eyes, ¡°you¡¯re with Peter Stojakovic.¡± My high heart crashed as I realized he¡¯d paired me with Peter on purpose, and I didn¡¯t even notice as a pale blond girl shot a glare of death my way. ¡°Amarok you¡¯ll be partnered with Brian Wilde; Chrysander Zabat you¡¯re with Istar Amirmoez. Alouette Lisle and Araluen you¡¯re together. Noah Saar, you¡¯re with Isra; Badar Al-Dabeyoun you¡¯re with Nu Wekwon. And finally, Zefirino Anton, you¡¯re left with Miguel Teros. And just to let you all know for the future, I have a mandatory attendance policy for my classes. So all of you,¡± he eyed me again with a smug expression, ¡°had better be here unless you¡¯re dead or dying. If either is not the case, then don¡¯t even bother coming back at all.¡± Shit! My most necessary class and the professor was trying to get me killed; blowing my secret to Stojakovic of all people? Shit. What the hell was I going to do now? I was distracted the whole rest of the night, even through dinner, not noticing as Miguel whispered under his breath an explanation of the whole situation to Brian, and only barely responding as the three of them tried to reassure me that it would be alright, that Stojakovic couldn¡¯t do anything serious while under the eyes of the whole class. I could see their perplexed looks at my total panic, but how could I explain that I was actually human? They barely knew me and had no real motivation to stick with me once the news got out. And there was no way I could possibly skip my next Biology class, though I¡¯m sure that was what Prof. Pereira was hoping for. I have no doubt that he would follow through on his threat if I skipped and that would basically be tantamount to admitting failure, something that was not even an option for my situation. If I dropped from the class, there would be no one to heal my mom and in several years she would die without ever even waking up, and probably with me having preceded her into death already since dropping Biology would definitely raise undue suspicion in all the monsters around me. Even if I totally gave up and tried to run from the school, the hunters would inevitably find and kill me. No, I had already made my choice coming here, and I really only had one option, I was going to have to make a deal with Peter Stojakovic.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. * * * Having made my decision, I figured that I might as well get it over with as soon as possible before I second guessed myself and chickened out on it. It was still a risky choice though, so I was understandably nervous heading into my self-defense class the next day where I¡¯d decided to approach Peter. Noticing the unusual amount of whispering going on amongst the students of the halls around me, and eager to get my mind off the circular, and rather panicky, nature my thoughts had taken, I began to listen in on one pair. ¡°So he¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°Yeah, they found his body in one of the blood magic chambers early this morning.¡± ¡°What was he doing there, especially at that hour?¡± ¡°Well so far the professors are saying it looks like he was doing an enhancement ritual and botched it.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way he botched a ritual, he¡¯s too careful and knows his stuff way too well. He comes from a whole line of Blood mages for Christ¡¯s sake!¡± ¡°So you think it was Jonathon?¡± ¡°Probably. There¡¯s no proof of course, but we all know he never leaves any. And Seros was his only real competition for that internship slot.¡± As I moved too far to hear anymore of the conversation I felt as if I¡¯d been struck by a bolt of lightning. Suddenly the danger I was in was all too real and hearing of the death that had taken place just this morning only underscored the importance of my decision. So it was with a firm spine and grim face that I entered the gymnasium and took a beeline towards where I saw Peter leaning against the far wall talking to a small group of students. I didn¡¯t let myself get distracted as I walked the length of the room, didn¡¯t even spare a glance to where my new friends stood watching with startled expressions and barely paid any attention to the blond girl I had to force my way past despite her indignant exclamation. Peter had straightened when he saw me start on my unwavering path towards him, his¡­ Friend? Sycophant? Whatever, trailing off his words when it became evident Peter was no longer paying him any attention. When I finally stopped before him, I could feel the weight of every single pair of eyes in the gymnasium resting on us, on me, all curious to know why a relative nonentity such as myself had decided to confront one of the so-called vampire royals at the school. Conscious of our audience, I kept my words short, ¡°Stojakovic, I¡¯d like to discuss the offer you made me,¡± I glanced around at our eager listeners and added, ¡°Sometime later today if that¡¯s fine.¡± He somehow managed to look both smug and disappointed at the same time, ¡°Of course. While I¡¯d hoped you might be a bit more of a challenge,¡± he paused, ¡°I knew it was only inevitable that you¡¯d agree.¡± Not reacting to his unsubtle query on my decision I replied simply, ¡°There are some details I¡¯d liked clarified.¡± A predatory glint of excitement entered his eye at my lack of affirmation, ¡°I¡¯ll find you tonight then.¡± I shot him a perfunctory nod, turned on my heel and once more forced my way past his circle of hangers-on. My friends peppered me with questions of course when I reached them, but I was luckily spared from answering by the entrance of Professor Saab and used the exercises he set us as an excuse to pretend I was too out of breath to answer. I think they finally figured out I was exaggerating and they weren¡¯t going to get anything out of me because when the professor began to pair us for sparring practice they were silent. Though the looks of worry Miguel shot me and the strong sense of disapproval radiating off Isra spoke miles of their thoughts and almost weakened my resolve not to talk. Thus, I was glad when Saab called my name and considered myself doubly lucky that he hadn¡¯t placed me with Peter again. It didn¡¯t take long however to wonder at my luck upon seeing the dark glower on my new sparring partner¡¯s face. Her tall, lithe frame was dressed in an expensive blue designer track suit and as I looked at her vaguely familiar face shadowed by straight-edged bangs hanging free from the rest of her hair pulled back into a smart ponytail, I finally recognized her as the girl I¡¯d earlier pushed past to get to Peter. Now, judging from her expression, it looked like I¡¯d managed to piss her off. I needed to quickly try and apologize before I found myself with yet another enemy. The professor called for us to start and as we slowly began circling each other in search of an opening, I broached the subject, ¡°Sorry about earlier. I really needed to talk to Stojakovic and it¡¯s hard to get past all the people he seems to be constantly surrounded by.¡± She tossed her bangs out of her eyes, one foot gracefully crossing in front of the other as she stepped to one side, ¡°That is because he is the elite of the vampire elite. I myself, Alouette Lisle, have a bloodline that is twenty-eight generations pure of human stock and is only seven generations removed from Vlad Tepe¡¯s line. I know why I belong in his circle, now I¡¯m just wondering who in the world you think you are to be bothering him.¡± She rushed in close, putting us almost nose to nose before pausing, watching as I stumbled back before adding in a sneer, ¡°Worm.¡± Quickly recovering, I feinted a punch, turning it at the last minute into a grab for her arm, then continued the motion to throw her over my hip. She made a little ¡®oomph¡¯ noise as she fell, exposing her fangs as I caught her by surprise, ¡°If he is so much higher in rank than you, then you should know better then to interfere in his business. This is between Stojakovic and I.¡± My attempts at making amends were a clear failure as she flung herself forward from the crouching position she¡¯d maneuvered herself into, her face a picture of fury as she began a flurry of blows all aimed clearly in an attempt to gouge out my eyeballs with her carefully manicured, painted blue, claw-like nails. ¡°There is nothing he could need or want from someone like you! I¡¯m worth ten of you and you¡¯re not even worthy of licking his boots! So I¡¯m warning you,¡± her eyes were wild as she began almost shouting, ¡°Stay away from him!¡± I backtracked quickly as she began her swings, barely managing to keep just ahead, but even with rage driving her, it soon became clear that she was no Stojakovic and in a swift move I pinned her beneath me with her arm pulled tight against her back. She let out a brief squeal of mingled pain and anger, but we were both silent as I held her in position until her heavy breaths began to even out. ¡°Now I¡¯m not sure just what your problem is, but I¡¯m pretty certain Stojakovic would not be grateful for you to be getting involved in his business. I really wish I wasn¡¯t for that matter, but since I am, I think you¡¯d best be leaving this alone. Besides,¡± I added as I carefully began to let her up, ¡°He is certainly capable of taking care of himself and probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate the implied insult that you think he isn¡¯t.¡± Her glare hadn¡¯t improved any as she turned to face me, one hand reaching up to gently rub her wrenched shoulder. ¡°Are we good?¡± I asked, my irritation over the whole encounter clear in my voice. She leaned in close, hissing slowly between her fangs, ¡°This isn¡¯t over.¡± Then she pushed past, shoving me with her shoulder in a clear reminder of our earlier collision, before striding angrily away. So much for not making new enemies. * * * Far across the world, a different blond was dialing on her cell phone as she lounged in a large in-floor bathtub. Her face was framed by pink-hued bubbles as she began speaking into her phone, ¡°Juanita, darling. It¡¯s Theresa,¡± she paused listening to the cheerful high-pitched reply with a small wince, ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯m doing well and so is Terrance. His campaign is doing very well and it looks like it¡¯ll be a landslide victory for him come November. The party is keen to keep him as Speaker of the House if we get the majority like it looks like we will. Humans are so very easy to manipulate,¡± they shared a dark chuckle between them, ¡°But, anyways Juanita, the reason I¡¯m calling is because I¡¯m going to be needing another shipment. Yes, already. I¡¯ll need my usual order of course, but I¡¯m also going to need a second larger order. Thirty-six adults and six under ten. Yes, I understand. We won¡¯t need that second one until sometime in October though.¡± She raised one hand up to gently touch the softly swaying body of a young Hispanic woman hanging upside down over her tub. Running one finger slowly along the gaping wound across her neck before popping the now bloody digit into her mouth. She sensually licked it clean as she listened to her friend¡¯s babble. ¡°Mmm, yes. We have quite the special something planned for Samhain,¡± she smiled darkly, her eyes softly beginning to glow from within, ¡°I won¡¯t spoil the surprise Juanita dear, but I will tell you it¡¯ll be the first step to building something truly¡­ spectacular.¡± * * * Thread class had been miserable with Isra deciding to give me the silent treatment despite me sitting right next to her and lunch even more so under the combined weight of my friend¡¯s pointed looks until I finally broke and drug them away to a secluded corner of the library. ¡°Look guys,¡± I began, ¡°I know this seems crazy, but there¡¯s more going on here then you know. I need you to just trust me that I know what I¡¯m doing.¡± They shared a quiet glance amongst themselves before obviously electing Isra to speak, ¡°Jessie hun, the thing is, well, we¡¯re not really sure you do. The Stojakovic family has,¡± she paused to consider her words carefully, ¡°a reputation. One that is most definitely not kind at all to women. Now, I¡¯m not sure why you believe you must deal with him, especially since only yesterday you seemed to want nothing to do with him, but I guarantee nothing good can come of this. Please, just tell us whatever it is that concerns you so and we¡¯ll find some other way.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Miguel piped up, ¡°If he tries anything we¡¯ll smash him flat! You got us so you have no need to deal with that devil!¡± Brian¡¯s voice was more serious, ¡°Miguel spoke more truly then he might know. In some circles, Peter¡¯s father Dragoslav has been called the Sanguine Satan and it is rumored that his son has not fallen too far from the tree.¡± ¡°Why do you guys even care?!¡± I burst out in bewilderment, ¡°You barely even know me or anything about me! Heck, only a few days ago we were total strangers!¡± Isra sniffed daintily in scorn, ¡°I protect what is mine.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah!¡± Miguel chimed in before realizing just what it was Isra actually had said, ¡°I mean, no, I mean, aw shucks Jess I don¡¯t think I own you.¡± ¡°Because I do,¡± Isra interjected with a smirk. The werefox shot her a quick glare as Brian snickered before Miguel continued, ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say Jess is well, why shouldn¡¯t we help you? You¡¯re nice and interesting and maybe we don¡¯t really know you really well yet, but sometimes you don¡¯t need to know someone for a really long time to know they¡¯re good people and you¡¯re good people Jess.¡± I gaped at him trying to fight back tears in my eyes before turning to look at Brian. ¡°The spirits have told me that you¡¯re loyal to your friends and worthy of trust. It would be wise to build a relationship with you,¡± the small fae answered straight-faced to my unasked question. Miguel stared at him, ¡°Seriously man, you are one creepy ass dude.¡± A small spark of humor glinted out as the puca blinked his horse eyes lazily at him, ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°In any hand,¡± Isra interrupted after rolling her eyes at their interplay, ¡°Jessica, no matter our reasons, each of us have decided that you are our friend and we want to help you, but we can¡¯t unless we know whatever the matter is.¡± I bit my lip, maybe they could actually figure a way out of this mess I¡¯d gotten myself into, but that would mean I would have to tell them that I was human. I didn¡¯t really think they would reject me because of it, but I knew how most supernaturals viewed my race. Could I risk it? It was inevitable that the secret would come out eventually and when it did it would definitely be better if I already had some people on my side to help control the results. My mind mentally nodded as it came to agreement and I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. ¡°Guys, I have been keeping a secret and you must understand that if it got out I would be in serious danger, as would all of you for protecting me. I would totally understand if you wish to distance yourselves after I tell you, but please, I need you to keep this quiet.¡± ¡°Hmph, it can¡¯t be as bad as dealing with Stojakovic and we already agreed to help with that. Nothing you tell us could be worse than that overpowered, wannabe royal. I mean it¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to tell us that you¡¯re a human!¡± Miguel ended with a burst of laughter. Laughter that slowly died off after my solid silence did not deny the accusation. ¡°Wait. Shit. Really?¡± The were cried incredulously. Isra¡¯s and Brian¡¯s identically raised eyebrows at my slow nod would have in any other situation brought out a snort of laughter from me, but I was too nervous awaiting their reactions. It was Brian who recovered first, ¡°You have truly surprised me Jessica Langden. You have taken quite the risk in coming here. The stories told of what happened to the last humans who dared are quite the gruesome tales. It becomes clear too why you decided you must deal with Stojakovic. With Professor Pereira obviously trying to out you to the student body and Stojakovic as your partner you must convince him to stay silent. And also, with the right deal, he could protect you from the rest of the student body when the secret does become known. Now I only wonder just what it was that drove you to this drastic course.¡± Miguel banged one fist against his other hand in sudden realization, ¡°That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t figure what species you were! You must have some sort of scent neutralizer. That¡¯d be super useful, could I get some off of you?¡± I looked incredulously at the three of them, ¡°Wait a minute. You don¡¯t care that I¡¯m human, any of you?¡± I asked looking between each of them. ¡°Well yeah it¡¯s a shock Jess, but you¡¯re like still you. So yeah, we¡¯re cool.¡± Miguel grinned lopsidedly at me. ¡°Isra?¡± I asked anxiously towards the last who¡¯d remained silent. She tilted her head thoughtfully at me, ¡°I do hope you¡¯ll share a bit of your blood with me occasionally. It¡¯s so hard to get fresh human blood here.¡± A startled laugh burst out of me, ¡°Sure Isra, after all what¡¯s a little bit of blood between friends?¡± I grinned in relief at their acceptance and gave into my urge, bursting forward to gather them all in a sudden group hug, grinning wider at their expressions. We spent the next couple of hours before they left for Algebra with me explaining the accident and the situation with my Mom and all of them brainstorming ideas to help my predicament. Some of the ideas were more entertaining than practical (I particularly enjoyed the one that involved using a trebuchet to slingshot Peter, Alouette, and Professor Pereira all out into the middle of Lake Baikal.), but ultimately we ended the session in a depressed state because no one could come up with a better plan then the one I already had. There really wasn¡¯t a better option then to involve that bloody vamp, as distasteful as we all found it. Now the only thing I could do was wait for him to come find me, an endeavor that became increasingly nerve-racking as the hours began to creep by with no sign of him. All throughout dinner I was on pins and needles, but he didn¡¯t show. Nor was he waiting for me when I arrived at my room. As the hours continued to pass I tried to distract myself with homework and another medical book from the library, but finally my eyes grew too heavy to continue and I decided that for whatever reason, he definitely wasn¡¯t going to show tonight, and went to bed. * * * I flew like a bird over the earth, passing from night into day and over land that slowly became more familiar until I finally stopped over what I knew was my mom¡¯s hospital. Quickly I sank through the floors in a whirl of color until I came to her room and there she was, standing before me even as her body lay on the bed behind her, a vision of silvery-white, with curls that while only barely were starting to grow in on her physical form, on the immaterial one were still long and glorious, waving in a nonexistent wind. She pointed out the eastern window and I saw the shadow that crept across the land, ¡°Soon it will come. He will be the maker, the Reaper of souls, the Dire Huntsman.¡± she lifted one hand to my cheek, ¡°I wish I had told you, but he¡¯d hurt me so much. I was scared, especially for you once you came, but now he seeks to hurt so many and somehow you¡¯ve become our best possible hope. I wish it didn¡¯t have to be you, but there is no one I would trust more to succeed.¡± She looked past me in sudden concentration, ¡°There is danger! You must go! Jess, my baby, I love you and forgive you for everything. Be safe, my dear heart. Now go!¡± I felt myself forced quickly backwards and despite how much I struggled to reach out to her, to cry out her name, my voice was silent and the world quickly faded into wispy darkness, the last visible sight, my mother¡¯s face crying silver tears. I came back to awareness slowly as if I was swimming through molasses or as if there were a heavy weight on top of me. My arms were awkwardly placed above my head and there was a wet roughness licking away at my cheeks, removing what some part of me knew to be my tears. Wait, it didn¡¯t just feel like something was weighing me down, something really was! As my mind snapped suddenly awake my eyes flew open in alarm to be greeted by the sight of Peter Stojakovic¡¯s face smirking way too up close and personal as he leaned in close with his hands pinning mine above my head and his legs straddling my waist, his arousal a very evident pressure against my belly. ¡°Morning cutie,¡± he grinned. My magical shield forcefully snapped into place, throwing him explosively off of me to his obvious surprise, but his grip on my wrists was too strong and I was flung along after him, landing atop of him on the floor, the wind kicked out of me in the process. ¡°Ooh, prefer to top do we? I knew you¡¯d be a feisty one.¡± he teased. Finally getting my breath back, I cried out, ¡°Let go of me you freaking creep!¡± I started struggling in earnest trying to get loose. ¡°But isn¡¯t this what you wanted? To deal,¡± he rolled his hips suggestively against me with a sarcastically fake innocence lacing his tone. I shuddered trying to fight my sudden unexpected arousal and forced myself still. There was no way I could escape from his grip unless he let go so I needed to get him to decide to do so himself, ¡°Look,¡± I tried to infuse calm into my voice, ¡°Peter. When I asked you to talk to me tonight, that was it, just talk. I was willing to consider making a deal with you, but I wanted to negotiate terms. This,¡± I glanced down between us, ¡°is definitely not conducive to negotiations. Please, release me.¡± ¡°Ah, but see, what if I want to stay like this? I¡¯ve got you just where I want you and that¡¯s how I prefer to conduct,¡± he licked his tongue over his fangs, ¡°negotiations. I believe the best negotiations are made when one clearly overpowers the other, best for the one at least, and in this case, that would be me,¡± he grinned, ¡°I think it¡¯s quite cute you even thought you could try to make a deal with me when it¡¯s clear, it¡¯s I,¡± he abruptly flexed his muscles and in a swift move smoothly flipped us over, slamming my head into the ground and making me see stars as he continued to speak, ¡°who has all the power. You see, what you didn¡¯t realize, was that this, is not a negotiation.¡± As soon as he finished his words, he struck, his fangs piercing my neck with a prick of pain that quickly was washed away in a haze of arousal, each rhythmic suck seemed to pull from a direct line connected to my innermost parts. The blow to my head had dazed me and I couldn¡¯t think clearly as a haze of heat overcame me, my body starting to writhe in place. Vaguely I became aware as he took one hand off a wrist, bringing it down to cup my womanhood through my pajama bottoms, his ministrations making me move even more wildly beneath him. I started to become lightheaded as pressure seemed to mount tighter and tighter deep inside until it suddenly burst overflowing and I screamed thrashing beneath him. All of it was too much, I had to do something, anything, and I lunged my head forward, tearing his fangs from my throat in the process, taking my own turn and biting down hard on his neck, breaking the flesh and starting to suck the blood from his body. The tastes, the power. Shock and fear. It was like I was drinking in his every emotion. I orgasmed again from the new sensations before he ripped free of me, crouching at the far wall with eyes now wide and wary. I couldn¡¯t help it, I laughed, dark and throaty, and again when he flinched. ¡°No daemon is that powerful!¡± he accusingly denied. I was drunk and heady, his power filling me up made me incautious, ¡°Daemon? No, but that was my secret of course. You see I,¡± I stood up and watched as he mirrored the movement cautiously, then grinned as I threw my arms wide, ¡°am a human.¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± he denied. ¡°Born and raised,¡± I disagreed with a smirk. He stopped, pausing in thought, ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you think you¡¯re human, but that,¡± he pointed to the wall at my right, ¡°clearly shows you¡¯re not.¡± What?! I turned my head unconsciously and stopped in complete bewilderment at seeing the glowing eyes shining out of my face from the mirror. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the fuck all just happened, but clearly I¡¯ve underestimated you.¡± I turned back in time to see a ghost of a smirk grace his lips, ¡°I have a feeling our next ¡®negotiations¡¯ are going to be much more to your liking.¡± he stepped back into the shadow of my dresser, tendrils of darkness reaching out to engulf him until he completely disappeared from view. I stared for a minute at the spot where he¡¯d been, realizing that must have been how he had gotten into my room in the first place, before shrugging it off as only someone who has been subjected to an overload of emotional events really can. I turned back to the mirror, raising one hand near my still glowing eyes and thought, ¡®Shit.¡¯ Ch 5: Mind Attack Chapter 5: Mind Attack Dragoslav Stojakovic lightly swirled the glass in his hand, the red liquid inside coating more evenly then any wine. ¡°Initial tests were good,¡± he spoke into the hands-free bluetooth with a strong East European accent, ¡°and my technomage¡¯s projections show it should be more than capable of reaching our target area once provided the appropriate magical power supply to boost it¡¯s capabilities of course. Now I just need to know Albot if you¡¯re going to hold up on your end of our arrangement. Your men will be ready?¡± The bushy-eyebrowed vampire casually leaned back in his chair, lifting feet finely dusted in long black hairs up onto the leather footstool in front of him. An impatient gesture towards one of the barely clothed servant girls standing still against the far wall beckoned her to attend to them. As she kneeled and began to massage his feet in silence, the obvious pleasure he felt from her ministrations was in no way reflected in his voice as he began once again to speak, ¡°This all better go as smoothly as you say Albot, because I swear, if you have set me up for a fall, no power on this earth will keep me from my vengeance.¡± He crushed the stem of his now empty wine glass, ignoring the fragments piercing his hand as he threw the remaining pieces towards the fireplace opposite the girls before beckoning another one of them forward, ¡°Very well then, unless anything unexpected comes up, I shall not contact you again until after the Feast of Gathering. And do give your dear mother my regards.¡± He unwrapped the earpiece from around his ear, gently placing it on the table beside him before not so carefully pulling the waiting girl onto his lap. Obviously used to this routine, she let out not a sound despite the glass shards cutting into her flesh from his injured hand, simply recovering quickly from her tumble and moving swiftly to straddle his thighs in well-trained obedience. As she swept her long red hair off to one side of her neck, the bloody handprint on her arm glowed scarlet in matching color, creating a striking image in the dancing firelight that shadowed her face as she tilted her head submissively to await his strike. And strike he did, his fangs like a snake, piercing her neck quickly, and only then did she finally unleash any sound, a deep throaty moan. * * * My rest was fitful after Peter Stojakovic had left the night before. The few brief times I managed to fall into a deep enough sleep, the awaiting dreams were filled with glowing eyes and shadows that threatened to engulf me before I¡¯d abruptly wake in panicked, sweaty fright. I finally managed a few uninterrupted hours after the sun broke, sleeping through breakfast and since I didn¡¯t have a first period class, partway through that as well, barely sliding into place beside Isra before the Runes professor strode into the room carrying a sheaf of papers. ¡°I am Madam Yuri Goryanov,¡± she proclaimed, answering my earlier unasked question concerning the brown-haired dwarf¡¯s gender, ¡°Mistress of Runes and Warding. Since my chosen assistant managed to get himself killed yesterday,¡± she scowled, ¡°I am currently looking for a new one. I sincerely doubt any of you have what it takes, but my advanced students are all either impossibly inept or have managed to thoroughly piss me off, so I¡¯m going to offer up the chance to this class as well. This,¡± she waved the papers in her hand, ¡°is a flawed runic warding schema. I want you all to attempt to figure out what it does, why it doesn¡¯t work, and try to figure out how to fix it. Don¡¯t,¡± she stressed, ¡°attempt to actually do so yourself. Anyone who tries any runic schema in my classroom without my prior approval will find themselves booted out of my class so fast their head will whirl. If you want to experiment, do it on your own time when I don¡¯t have to worry about you blowing up a dozen students in the process. ¡°Now,¡± she continued after thoroughly glowering at us under impressively large eyebrows to try and impress that last point, ¡°as I said before, I don¡¯t actually expect any of you idiots to actually be able to complete this task correctly, but this is a pretty good way to test your knowledge and skills. Try,¡± she rolled her eyes heavenward as if asking for patience, ¡°to impress me.¡± She passed out the papers and upon looking at the complicated warding schema, I felt excitement well up at the challenge. I was lucky she had chosen a schema that was mainly written in the Futhark languages that I had studied and that I could even recognize the occasional Egyptian hieroglyph and ancient Chinese character that sparsely decorated the page due to my own personal extracurricular studies. Let¡¯s see, this rune connected to that one, placed in this particular pattern would have that effect¡­ I soon became lost in the intricacies of the brilliant warding schematic and didn¡¯t notice as the professor gained an increasingly strong interest in me as my pen began to fly across my paper in an impressive number of notes, especially when she looked around and compared my intent actions to the largely confused expressions that graced the faces of the rest of my fellow classmates. When I scribbled off the last bits of my answer and slammed my pencil down onto my desk in triumph, I almost jumped out of my chair as Madam Goryanov snatched the papers off my desk from where she¡¯d apparently been hovering right next to me without my notice. Leon would have reamed me for my inattention. The bell rang, ending class and only the professor¡¯s quickly ordered, ¡°You, stay!¡± as she pointed her finger at me without even looking up from her reading, kept me in my seat. When my friends looked like they were going to wait for me, I made a gentle shooing motion towards the door, indicating they should go on to lunch without me. At one point as I waited, Madam Goryanov briefly looked up to ask me, ¡°How long have you been studying runes?¡± I was nervous as I stuttered out, ¡°Just started this past summer.¡± She only ¡®hmmed¡¯ once in reply before continuing her study of my notes. When I originally started analyzing the rune schema she gave us, I never imagined the possibility that I might actually be good enough for her to consider taking me on as her assistant and now that it was becoming clear that there was a very high probability of that actually occurring, I wondered if there was any way I could gracefully decline. After all, we all heard what had happened to her last choice. She finally finished and looked at me, ¡°You were wrong in your interpretation of the hieroglyph ¡®ges¡¯ and you messed up your geometric calculations,¡± she paused and I thought, ¡®Yes, I wouldn¡¯t get the job.¡¯ ¡°But,¡± she continued, ¡°for the short amount of time you have been studying, it is clear you have an intuitive gift when it comes to runes and it would be a waste for me not to nurture and utilize it. There is still a lot you need to know before you¡¯d admittedly be useful as an assistant, but really you¡¯re the only one I¡¯ve seen worth putting the effort in for and I want to give you the position.¡± Shit, ¡°Madam Yuri, I really appreciate the opportunity, but I¡¯m afraid there are many elements,¡± especially certain teachers, I thought, ¡°at this school who would not be happy to hear of my selection and well, you¡¯ve just lost one assistant, are you so quick to lose another?¡± She snorted in disparagement, ¡°It¡¯s true you¡¯re only human,¡± Unsure of the truth myself at the moment, I decided not to correct her, ¡°and only a first year student. But if you don¡¯t accept I¡¯d have to either choose the one who probably caused my other assistant¡¯s death, and I really don¡¯t want to reward him for the hassle he¡¯s given me, or deal with some other idiot. I¡¯d probably have to kill you myself just for the trouble your refusal would cause me,¡± she grinned darkly at me, reminding me of a pirate with her wild braid-strewn hair and rune-etched, gold-capped teeth. I gulped silently as she hummed again in thought, ¡°Do you have any sort of protection already?¡± Knowing there was no way I was going to get out of this, I popped up my force protection shield in answer, holding it as she poked at it with one finger. ¡°Impressive, anything else?¡± Dropping the shield, I showed her my Smith and Wesson and also explained the burglar trap I¡¯d put on my dorm room¡¯s door, ¡°Unfortunately I found out last night that not everybody needs to use a door. Do you know of any way to guard against that weird shadow walk thing vampires can do?¡± I asked her, thinking back in annoyance at Stojakovic¡¯s antics the prior night. ¡°Hmm, got yourself a nighttime stalker huh,¡± she grinned, ¡°Well it isn¡¯t easy, but there is a way to ward against that. Since you like electrocuting people, I can even show you how to tie in your existing ward so that it can also zap anyone who tries that method of entrance. This is what you need to do¡­¡± As she began to explain, I ignored my lightheadedness and the increasingly painful pangs my stomach let out in protest over missing both breakfast and now as we continued to work, lunch. My head and stomach would just have to deal, I was learning stuff that could help keep me alive. My mind was whirling when she finally let me go, filled with dancing runic equations and dizzy from hunger. I wished I¡¯d had time to scarf something down from the cafeteria, but my next class was about to start and I didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to miss my first Mind Magic class of the year, especially when I had no idea what the professor was like, or his stance on humans. Entering the classroom, the extremely dark-skinned professor gave me a pointed look, ¡°Cutting it awfully close there Miss Langden.¡± I blushed as the rest of the class snickered and hurried over to where Miguel was waving at me from the back, the seat he¡¯d saved open next to him. In a low whisper, he tried to query what had happened with Madam Yuri, but the professor¡¯s stern, ¡°No talking!¡± shut us up before I could answer. ¡°Now as I started saying before we were so rudely interrupted,¡± he pointedly looked at us ¡°I am Professor Marcel Angoua and you are all here, or should be, because you want to learn mind magic. The magic of the mind is an amazingly versatile skill that is necessary for advancement in everything from Illusions to Healing, Rituals, Song Magic, advanced Blood Magic, and even Necromancy. It is useful for diplomats, warriors, spies, and many more professions. With it, you can alter memories, levitate objects, read or project emotions, and even teleport if you have enough power and control. Mind magic is one of the most important tools in our arsenals for keeping our activities secret from the bulk of humanity,¡± he sneered the last word, shooting a barely subtle glance in my direction and I knew this was going to be another problem teacher. ¡°But anyways,¡± he continued, ¡°it will take some time until you¡¯re capable of that type of work and the first step towards getting there is making sure all of you have sufficient protection and control of your own minds. As such, I will be testing each of you today to see if your shields are sufficient before we move on to the more advanced material.¡± Great, I thought, today just seemed to be the day for tests, ¡°When I call your name, please step up to the front. Amarok!¡± A feral-looking, white-haired boy loped up to the front, and I watched with interest to see what would happen, but other then a slight swaying by him after a few minutes of them staring into each other¡¯s eyes, the professor¡¯s own glowing the now too familiar glow signifying a daemon, and him saying, ¡°Good enough,¡± it was depressingly boring. I did find it mildly unusual that he seemed to alternate calling names from either the beginning or end of the alphabet, slowly working his way towards the middle letters. Though personally, I just believe he was trying to draw out my own torture since I was the last to be called. Walking forward, I saw my guess had probably been more correct then I¡¯d known judging from the eager gleam in his eyes and I quickly worked to buffer my shields as much as I could in the short moments it took to walk to the front. When he began, it wasn¡¯t the tentative probing used by my earlier instructors, nor was it even the more powerful blunt force attack I¡¯d half expected, instead, it was a fierce multi-pronged attack. Simultaneously in many places, my shields were assaulted by what seemed like a dozen different construction tools at once. Sledgehammers, pickaxes, whirling drills, they all combined to batter and whittle my shields into pieces. I think he¡¯d simply wanted to cause me pain, break open my shields as quickly as possible, and prove the inferiority of humankind, but I was stronger then he¡¯d expected, and I could feel the shock that laced his attack turn into to rage at my defiance and he attacked my shields even more fiercely. As each fell, I threw up a dozen more, trying in vain to hold him back with sheer quantity if I couldn¡¯t do quality, because I knew, with that terrible sudden knowing that can come upon us when faced with immeasurable danger, that he wouldn¡¯t simply stop when he pierced my shields. No, it was clear to me, that whatever his original intentions, he now intended to go straight on through and continue, piercing deep into my mind with that fierce, overwhelming attack and destroy all that lay in its path. I would become a vegetable, worse than one when he was through. There were only a few layers left, he was battering them down as fast as I could put them up now and I was so involved in our inner battle I hadn¡¯t even noticed the pain when I bit clear through my bottom lip. And then he was through! Oh God the pain! It was excruciating! I felt him begin to destroy each scrap of knowledge and bit of thought, each tiny memory and piece of who I am, one little bit at a time. Outside my mind, a strangled scream was dragged out of my throat and blood started pouring down from my eyes, ears, and nose to the shock of all my watching classmates. Inside, I continued to fight, throwing every wisp of power I had at him and then without even knowing how, I reached out and drew in more. Vaguely I noticed these new energies were tinged with fear, anger, excitement, bloodlust; and outside the small enclosed world my focus had become, my eyes glowed.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. * * * Watching all of this, Peter was frozen with the rest of the class in complete disbelief that a teacher would attack one of them like this. He could see her friends as they looked between themselves with anguish, fear, and confusion on their faces, but indecision over facing a teacher had stopped them still. Peter looked at Jessica standing proudly even as blood poured down her pain-scrunched face and moved without thinking. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he was just suddenly there, a physical presence between the Professor and the strong-willed young woman. He stumbled as the magic painfully fed back through his own body as it forcefully broke their connection. AS Jessica began to fall, having slumped instantly into unconsciousness the moment the connection broke, he quickly half-turned to catch her. How could someone so delicate looking hold such power? He wanted to keep staring at her deliciously blood covered doll-like face, but knew better than to be distracted when an attack might still be incoming. Looking back up in time to see Professor Angoua¡¯s rage-filled face as it abruptly became aware again of his surroundings and shifted instantly to a more neutral visage. ¡°Has she had enough,¡± Peter asked him, ¡°or do you intend to kill her?¡± The class held its breath at the confrontation, waiting eagerly for their professor¡¯s answer. He looked around at all of them and seemed to realize that he¡¯d gone too far in his anger, but it was obvious he wasn¡¯t going to admit to any wrong-doing, ¡°Class dismissed,¡± he sneered. Not waiting for anyone else, Peter strode swiftly from the room with Jessica still in his arms. The awaiting hallways were as empty as his mind with most of the school¡¯s population still in their classes so as he ran towards the infirmary he didn¡¯t come across a single soul. Even when he reached the ward, the Healer was nowhere in sight and as he laid Jess gently upon one of the beds, his mind was left suddenly free to wonder at his own actions. What was it about this girl that made him do something so out of character for him? It shouldn¡¯t matter to him if the professor did kill her, and opposing a teacher, especially in his first year, was probably not the best idea, but for some reason as he watched her standing there, enduring attacks that, if he honestly admitted to himself, he probably couldn¡¯t face, he was impressed yet again by her. And Lord Dracul, the power that radiated off of her when her eyes started to glow. A tiny echoing tinge of the hunger he felt in that moment returned and he decided that it didn¡¯t really matter if he had acted out of character or not, been foolish or not. After all, hadn¡¯t he already said that she was his, his thing to play with as he wished, and no one would take away something he was not finished playing with without his permission. He nodded mentally to himself, yes, definitely in character. What he wanted, he got, and no one would stop him. Internal crisis resolved, he was free to pay attention to other matters and looked down again at the girl before him, the blood still coating her face now playing havoc with his nose and reawakened hunger. It was an enticement that he didn¡¯t want to fight, and since there was no one around to stop him, and had in fact just said that she was indeed his to do with as he pleased, he hesitated no longer and lowered his head to hers. He started with the blood that had poured from her ears and ran down her luscious throat, teasing the runnel that traced her arteries with his fangs before using a surprisingly gentle caress with his tongue to slowly uncover the pale skin beneath. The taste was exquisite, the usual copper tang laced with rich and complex undertones, bitter dark chocolate and smoky chipotle. As his tongue lapped at her skin, he kept his movements slow and sensual, allowing him to savor each taste, and awakening other hungers farther down his body. His movements started to speed up, first it was under the ears, then the eyes, the face beneath being licked clean with each graze of his eager tongue. He continued under the nose and down around the mouth, scratches from his fangs being left now at the urgency of his movements, then finally he came up again to the still bleeding lip that he¡¯d saved for last, licking and suckling it between his fangs, pulling ever harder to draw more and more blood as his two hungers drove him to a fever high pitch and ¡­ hands were suddenly grabbing him, pulling him off her. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± He snarled as he whirled on his attacker reaching out to strike with one clawed hand, but pulled up short upon being confronted suddenly by three people, the pause giving his mind the chance to seize control again and fight clear of his bloodlust, finally allowing him to recognize Jess¡¯s little friends, the werefox who¡¯d stopped him forefront, fur bristling and teethy muzzle beginning to protrude from his face in his angry half-transformed state. It was getting close to the full moon, one of us would surely die if we fought now and she¡¯d probably not be happy if Peter killed him, the brief thought flitted in even as he wondered why he should care, but the moment had passed. So, still fighting the adrenaline rush, he ignored the were¡¯s question, and instead simply grabbed the bag he recognized as his own from the goblin-sized fae before stalking angrily out of the infirmary. He was followed out by Miguel¡¯s aggravated, ¡°What the hell?!¡± * * * I woke to an intense wanting coursing through my body, a gnawing hunger for something more than food. I stretched sensually, luxuriating in the overwhelming sense of power that filled me. A power teasing and feeding that strange hunger as deliberately I ignored the nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I had forgotten something important. The curtain surrounding me in what was, I suddenly became aware of, certainly a hospital room, twitched, and a man dressed in a white lab coat came through. He was bland, brown hair and eyes, and a skin color that was either a very tanned white or pale brown. The only thing that wasn¡¯t forgettable about his appearance was the barely noticeable aura of wildness that seemed to surround him. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± I pondered the question, something must have happened to put me in this hospital, but I couldn¡¯t seem to remember, ¡°What happened?¡± He straightened up, ¡°You experienced a severe mental trauma.¡± His words sent a spike of fear and pain through me, instantly dousing the sensual hunger I¡¯d felt and a woman¡¯s face, with grey eyes and curly blond hair, flashed to the forefront of my brain, along with an intense feeling of longing and guilt. The man continued, unaware of my inner turmoil, ¡°I¡¯m going to ask you a series of questions and would like you to answer them to the best of your ability.¡± I nodded as he took out a penlight and shone it into my eyes, waving it back and forth as he began to question me. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Jess.¡± it popped out without thought. ¡°Last name?¡± This time my answer was less sure, but still felt right, ¡°Langden?¡± ¡°Do you know where you are?¡± I looked around at the hospital bed, curtains, and machinery, ¡°a hospital?¡± ¡°Do you know how old you are?¡± ¡°16.¡± ¡°Do you know the date?¡± A sharp pain entwined with a hefty dose of confusion swept across my mind and I was shaky as I replied, ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Do you know your mother¡¯s name?¡± ¡°Cathy.¡± Again it popped out without conscious thought, this time along with the image of the woman I¡¯d seen before and I suddenly connected the two. She must be my mother, Cathy. I savored the name and image in my head. Another person abruptly burst through the curtain with the force of a thrown bolder, tearing a section of the flimsy cloth out from its ceiling track. The new individual was short and squat with wild dark brown hair and a full beard, both of which were only contained by the many beaded braids strewn throughout them. ¡°Well, Barker, how is she?¡± Sighing, the doctor answered the newcomer¡¯s question as I listened keenly, ¡°Madam,¡± Wait, this guy was a she, I thought incredulously as he continued to speak, ¡°I¡¯ve only just started the preliminary questioning, but it¡¯s clear Marcel really did a number on her, cutting through large swatches of neuron connections and even completely obliterating multiple memories. The only thing that luckily seems untouched are her physical and involuntary control functions.¡± ¡°Hold on! Back up a sec,¡± I interrupted, ¡°Are you saying, I was deliberately attacked?! What the hell is going on here?!¡± The she-male looked troubled as she answered, ¡°I know you were aware of the dangers in coming here Jessica, or at least you once did, but even I am surprised that he went so far, especially with a student.¡± ¡°Are you saying this, Marcel, is a teacher, my teacher?¡± my voice rose angrily in response, ¡°Just what the hell kind of school is this place?¡± It was bland Barker, the doctor, who replied, ¡°We are at the Akademiya, an elite school for magic located in the middle of Lake Baikal, Russia and populated completely by non-humans.¡± ¡°Magic,¡± I flatly repeated, ¡°You really expect me to believe that shit? And non-humans? Just what am I supposed to be then, Swiss cheese?¡± ¡°You registered as a human, a daring risk, since no human has yet lived to attend graduation here and completely unnecessary according to the rumors surrounding your attack. I do wonder why you were trying to pretend to be completely human though when your blood work clearly shows an active daemon¡¯s genetic sequence.¡± ¡°What are you talking about,¡± I asked, completely baffled, ¡°I am human! And I¡¯m not sure exactly what the hell¡¯s going on here, but I¡¯m getting the hell out of here!¡± I started to get out of bed to do just that only to have my shoulders suddenly forced back down by impossibly strong hands holding me in an implacable grip no matter how hard I struggled. ¡°Get the hell off of me! Let me go!¡± I yelled as I fought. A low warning growl emitted from the throat of the man before me and I froze. He opened his mouth to reveal rows of long sharp teeth that certainly weren¡¯t there only moments before and no longer did I doubt his earlier words. ¡°Stay.¡± The command came out low and rumbling and I didn¡¯t even think to disobey. Seeing my agreement in my eyes, he pulled back and I watched in shock as his face slowly returned to fully human. ¡°What are you?¡± It slipped out quietly without thinking. ¡°Werewolf.¡± He grinned and suddenly there was nothing bland about him. It was all too much and a sudden dizziness overcame me, followed quickly by darkness. * * * When she abruptly lost consciousness, falling backward onto the bed with eyes closed, the werewolf doctor hurried forward to check her pulse and pupil dilation, ¡°Huh, she passed out. That will make the next part easier I suppose.¡± Having watched all of this silently, Madam Yuri finally spoke up, ¡°Can you help her? I don¡¯t want to lose my assistant so soon after choosing her.¡± ¡°Your new assistant huh; that will really stir up the pot. Not very nice of you, I¡¯d say, but surely amusing for the rest of us. Anyways, I¡¯m going to have to do a mind healing ritual tonight and see what parts I can save. We¡¯re lucky minds tend to be pretty resilient and generally want to be put back together. She¡¯ll lose some memories of course, but I¡¯m hoping to be able to reconnect the majority of her neurons. With any luck, she¡¯ll be back to classes by Monday.¡± * * * I was adrift in a sea of memories, a broken web that moved around me to unseen currents. Occasionally, the presence beside me, one strangely both gentle and feral, would snag a cluster of memories closer and tie them back again into the web connected to me, each resulting in a replay of the memory group. Little things at first, bits of knowledge like math or history, connected to memories of when I learned them and reconnected again and again by each mention of the knowledge. There were emotional parts too as I re-witnessed the accident that put my mother in a coma and awakened my magic. Faces became familiar to me once more, places and learned knowledge too and once again I was shocked to see the image of my eyes glowing from a mirror¡¯s reflection, Peter Stojakovic¡¯s accusing voice, ¡°Daemon¡­¡± ringing in my memory¡¯s ears. An earlier grouping was tied in and suddenly I was small again, playing with toys on the floor as I watched my mom wash dishes at the sink, a small television turned on beside her. ¡°In other news, the Senator of Connecticut, Terrence William Albot the Second died yesterday from a fatal stroke and we will now hear these words from his son, the newly elected Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, Terrence Albot the third¡­¡± A soapy dish slipped from my mother¡¯s suddenly shaking hands, crashing to the floor and shattering into a thousand pieces, one sliver cutting into my cheek as it flew past. Unsure why my mom was so still, I screamed in pain, and the last thing I saw before I was whisked away to yet another memory, was my mother¡¯s bone white, terror-filled face and a suited blond haired man speaking out from the television set. * * * When I woke again, it was night time, the almost full moon shining through the window beside me, highlighting the room in shades of gray. I looked around and a single rose in a vase caught my eye where it sat on a small table under the window. I couldn¡¯t tell, but it was probably a red one. ¡®Stojakovic,¡¯ I snorted at the thought. He really wasn¡¯t one to ever give up, especially something he wanted. It was almost an admirable trait, if his obsession wasn¡¯t directed towards me at least. But I didn¡¯t really want to think of him, and instead turned my attention inward. I still had the feeling that there was something I was missing or had forgotten, but there was a lot more that I could remember now too, even things that I had long forgotten, like that odd memory of my mother and her fright at seeing the guy on the television. It was only with the knowledge of my now older brain that I could think and reason on what I saw then. It was apparent that she obviously knew him, and just as obvious that she was terrified of him. It was a terror that could only have come from personal experience and as I thought on it, a sudden instinctive leap of comprehensive understanding came and I just knew, knew that he was the man who had raped her¡­my father. From the brief bit I remembered, it was clear he came from a privileged background, probably raised to be a politician like his father, and it hit me like a bolt of lightning, a daemon, just like me. Well that would make me at least a half if not quarter daemon, but still he was obviously the source of that side of my powers. Equal parts hate and gratefulness and guilt overcame me, because if he had never raped my mom, I would never have been born and never have caused the accident that put her into a coma, but on the other hand the magic that had saved her life also most likely came from him and I couldn¡¯t help but be a bit thankful for that. Long ago I had sworn to get revenge on the man who had hurt my mother so much, but for what he gave me I chose now to simply ignore his existence and not purposely go hunting after him, but still¡­ if fate ever did cross our paths, he would pay. As I drifted back to sleep I repeated his name, Terrence William Albot the Third, my father. Ch 6 Full Moon Chapter 6: Full Moon The wererat quivered as he approached the blind alley where he knew that she would be waiting for him, and when he looked in, sure enough, a pair of red tail lights sat, glowing with imagined menace out of the dark. Only the barest bit of moonlight reached down here, shadowed as it was by the tall buildings common to New York, but what could reach, gently highlighted the shining new Mercedes from which the red lights shone. It should have been out of place, an instant target for thieves, but, he thought, no doubt even a magical null could sense that this was one mark they did not want to mess with. The man himself could sympathize, he didn¡¯t even want to be here, yet even as a wererat far more powerful than any null, when she called he didn¡¯t dare refuse to come. And so, despite his fear, he took a shaky breath, and walked forward. The window rolled down as he approached and a delicate hand with crimson tipped fingernail held out a sheath of papers at him. He froze instinctively despite the absence of a clear threat. He knew that clear lack didn¡¯t mean that a threat wasn¡¯t actually present. A female voice tsked, ¡°I know I¡¯m frightening Jones, so,¡± her voice darkened in menace, ¡°do you really want to disobey me?¡± The newly identified Jones swallowed deeply before forcing his suddenly weak legs to move closer. ¡°What do you need from me ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°First take these,¡± she waves her hand, ¡°Or are you going to wait until my hand falls off?¡± He receives them and sees they are covered by an extremely intricate ward schema that he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of, ¡°What are they?¡± ¡°Not your business,¡± she warns waspishly, ¡°You just need to follow my instructions exactly. Now, you know where all the local weres run for full moons, correct?¡± The wererat nodded, ¡°Of course, we have to know so we don¡¯t accidentally intrude on another¡¯s territory.¡± ¡°Good,¡± she purred, ¡°Then I need you to bury at least one of these papers in each of the grounds that you know of before Tuesday¡¯s full moon. Somewhere they¡¯re sure to be stepped over. Do this and your debt to me will be cleared.¡± Uneasy, but knowing he had no choice he replied, ¡°It shall be done.¡± Eyes glowed from the dark depths inside the car, ¡°Good.¡± * * * All of Sunday I stayed in the hospital wing, using the time in between friends¡¯ visits to refresh my knowledge of magic, especially that which I was supposed to have learned in this last week and also, Isra having given me her notes, those new things I¡¯d missed from my classes on Friday and Saturday. I was lucky to find out that Professor Pereira thought that having my brain put through the equivalent of a blender was close enough to dying to not kick me out of Biology; although, I¡¯m sure hearing of my apparent daemon inheritance probably didn¡¯t hurt either. Then, with gleeful, wicked delight they told me what Professor Goryanov did to Professor Angoua for harming me. It was Friday evening, early into dinner that it happened. Startling all, the cafeteria door was thrown open with a thunderous crash as it hit the wall and Professor Goryanov strode into the room with a furious scowl upon her face. Even the fiercest of students ducked and scurried out of her way like so many mice as she strode between the tables, heading with unerring accuracy towards a certain Mind Magic Professor. It was with a sense of eagerness that the students watched as Angoua slipped from his chair with a clear look of alarm upon his face. His voice was placating as it spoke, ¡°Now Yuri¡­¡± But the Runes master didn¡¯t even let him finish as she smoothly pulled out a pair of rune covered rocks tied together with rope, raised them above her head and started swinging. Alarm turned to panic, Angoua shot a quick glance towards the Headmistress, but everyone knew seeing her blank visage that there would be no help coming from that corner. The bola flew through the air as Goryanov finally released it and the dark-skinned demon threw up his hand, clearly intending to use his telekinesis to stop it, but panic turned to fear as the weapon passed through his power like so much cobwebs. He turned to run or dodge at the end, but the primitive flying weapon followed, wrapping fiercely around him with a jolting force that became suddenly far more than merely jolting as lightning arced between the two stones, electrocuting the man wrapped tightly between. His body spasmed, his back arching as his mouth opened in a silent scream and a sulfur smell caused the nearest students to wrinkle their noses as his bowels released their contents. The electrifying light show stopped and small wisps of smoke crawled up from his prone form. Professor Goryanov stalked over to him like a great hunting cat, a small smirk upon her face as she basked in the glow of the students¡¯ utter silence. Coming up on Professor Angoua¡¯s still form she none to gently placed her boot down on top of him and roughly pushed him from his side to face her. His groan from her far from tender ministrations at least let the rest of the room know he was still alive. As he fluttered open his eyes she spoke. ¡°How do you like my newest creation, Marcel? My Lightning Bola was inspired by something my young new assistant made. You know the one, the first year student you attacked and nearly killed just yesterday.¡± she paused watching as lips moved without sound and eyes swirled frantically. Whatever he was trying to tell her, she must have understood as she said, ¡°Well I don¡¯t care what you thought you knew or didn¡¯t know or whatever your excuses are. All I care about is that you almost cost me another assistant and that I still might lose her yet and if I do Marcel¡­¡± she slid one finger slowly against her throat, ¡°I¡¯ll give you the full punishment proven murderers here are promised. In the meantime and to prevent any further accidents¡­¡± She pulled out an iron shackle with runes engraved on the inside, ¡°Here¡¯s a little prevention method to keep you from trying to kill any more students. I dare you to try and test it. I dare you. You might not like the results you¡¯ll receive if you do, of course, if you did so, well you¡¯ll be too far past it by then to care. Oh and do make sure to give the poor girl an apology when you see her next. She deserves at least that much right?¡± Her gold capped teeth shined as she grinned. Obviously finished, she stepped back, gave the Headmistress a shared nod of acknowledgement then strode over to the meal line, giving no further apparent thought for the man lying collapsed behind her, as if he was a tiny ant to her mountain. I was shocked and awed to hear of her defense of me and quietly decided to put forth all the effort I could expend to learn what she set me so I would be the best assistant she ever could have asked for. At last released after dinner that Sunday night, I started to head back to my room, only to halt a few hallways down in complete bewilderment when I realized I couldn¡¯t remember exactly how to get back from here. Certainly an unanticipated side effect of my recent brain injury; I was lucky to see a blond headed girl pop out of a nearby room. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I called out. She turned to look, her face surprisingly taking on an ugly sneer as soon as she saw me, her voice aggressively snooty as she replied, ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± I fumbled, confused at her attitude, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, have we already met?¡± She started in brief surprise that quickly turned to fury, ¡°Are you really saying that you have no clue who I am, that I¡¯m so unimportant and beneath you that you have already forgotten who I am?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± I panicked, confused, my words picking up speed as I continued, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve already heard but I suffered some pretty severe mind damage after a mental attack the other day and have now forgotten quite a few things. That¡¯s even why I stopped you. I was trying to get directions back to the dormitory halls.¡± Her anger seemed to mute a bit, ¡°You really can¡¯t even remember where your own room is?¡± ¡°Nope, not one bit.¡± I earnestly reassured her. ¡°Hmm,¡± she thought aloud for a few seconds before seemingly coming to a decision, ¡°Fine, since you apparently have forgotten, my name is Alouette Lisle and if you want to return to your room just follow this hallway straight ahead until you come to the second intersection. Take a right, then follow that until you see a staircase on your left. Go down two floors and then turn left out that hall. Your room should be a few doors down on the right.¡± Concentrating on trying to remember her directions, I didn¡¯t notice the sly glint in her eye as she gave them, only feeling gratitude to her for her help. ¡°Thank you,¡± I told her, sending a brief nod her way as I turned to leave. ¡°And Jessica,¡± I paused, looking at her in query, ¡°I¡¯m not much given to second warnings but I¡¯ll make an exception just this time. Stay away from Peter Stojakovic,¡± then she stalked away. ¡°Huh,¡± I thought as I started walking, ¡°I wonder what that was all about.¡± It was only ten minutes later that I¡¯d realized that she¡¯d sent me in completely the wrong direction. ¡°Damn blond bimbo,¡± I grumbled to my feet after another twenty minutes had passed, ¡°I wonder what the hell I ever did to her?¡± I looked up and felt an immediate wave of relief pass over me as I realized I was only a hallway away from my room, ¡°Thank God!¡± I hurried forward and entered my dorm room with a profound sense of gratefulness, throwing myself down onto my bed with a contented sigh. I knew I couldn¡¯t stay like that though, I had things to do, and after only a few minutes forced myself to move. First, I needed to email an encoded report on the week¡¯s happenings back to the Office of Paranormal Affairs. They¡¯d expected to hear from me yesterday, and would surely be worried. I was lucky they¡¯d installed encryption software onto my computer, or no doubt I would have lost the ability to encode it along with my memories. As I went over the happenings of the last week, I included all that I had learned in my classes (an important part of why they wanted me here), brief descriptions of the teachers and students I had met (glossing over the negative interactions since I didn¡¯t want to sound like I was whining), and then finally I came to the last several days. I was nervous about informing them of my partial non-human ancestry, but felt they deserved to know. Besides, I had already signed on to work for them after all of this and after all, having grown up human, definitely felt more loyalty to that side of my heritage. When I reached the end, after considering it a moment, I also added the memory I¡¯d recently uncovered. If this Terrence Albot really was my father, then they needed to check him out and find out what a daemon or partial daemon was up to messing in U.S. politics. I emailed the report off and then worked on the homework assignments I¡¯d missed until I was too tired to stay anymore awake and went to bed. The next morning as I walked to breakfast with Miguel, I noticed that he was twitchy and snappish and wondered why he seemed more than a bit on edge. And he was not alone in this, I saw when we entered the cafeteria and it was noticeably filled with tension. As we ate I looked around, watching as arguments and even the occasional full on fight would break out and I saw that in the majority of these instances there was always a certain feralty to at least one of those involved. The image of the almost full moon I saw the other night suddenly came back to me and I realized that tomorrow night was the night of the full moon. Pausing between bites of food I asked Miguel, ¡°So how will it work tomorrow?¡± Knowing instantly what I was referring to, Miguel swallowed and said, ¡°They¡¯ll separate us by type and lead us to different parts of the island. There will be a place we can change that will have an open entrance to the outside. I¡¯ve heard there are a lot of caves used for this. Being our first change of the year we will most surely be engaged in dominance fights, unless one is clearly submissive,¡± he barked a grim laugh and I noticed his fingernails were repetitively lengthening into claws and back as he clenched and unclenched his fists in agitation. Brian must have caught on to my attempt to distract Miguel, because he spoke up next, ¡°I thought foxes didn¡¯t form packs?¡± ¡°Usually we don¡¯t,¡± Miguel replied, ¡°My own clan is made up of loosely connected, but widespread smaller family groupings. But it¡¯s different here at this school. All these non-related weres forced into close quarters together, it¡¯s an obvious recipe for disaster unless a clear order of authority is established.¡± I was starting to get worried now, ¡°Still, isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± ¡°Extremely. People have died before in challenge fights, but it¡¯s still less dangerous than letting a group of weres run wild without some kind of leader putting them on a leash. At least it won¡¯t be too bad for me; I shouldn¡¯t have too many fights since foxes aren¡¯t the most common of weres. The wolves though, there¡¯ll certainly be some dead tomorrow.¡± ¡°You obviously knew this was coming, yet for some reason, seem a lot more worried than your words suggest.¡± Isra asked, now starting to get into the conversation. He ran his claws nervously through his russet-colored hair, ¡°I¡¯ve heard some things about the current alpha fox,¡± he paused, eyes briefly darting over to a large red haired upperclassman surrounded by several timid looking ferals, before quickly darting back, continuing as if he¡¯d never even paused, ¡°Kivi Vaara, I¡¯ve heard it hinted, apparently doesn¡¯t like to have anyone too dominant in his pack. Too afraid they might get up the gumption to take his position I¡¯d guess, but the point is I¡¯ve heard that he tends to badly brutalize any who looks like they might be interested in challenging him and if they don¡¯t submit quick enough,¡± Miguel¡¯s next action finished his sentence quite finally as he raked one open clawed hand across his neck.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Shit,¡± I whispered, ¡°you¡¯re obviously worried then that he¡¯ll think you¡¯re too dominant, right?¡± We both ignored Isra¡¯s snort to our left as he simply nodded tersely. ¡°Well is there anything you can do, or that we can do?¡± He smiled a little grimly, ¡°It¡¯s nice of you to offer, but besides the fact that outside help is forbidden, you certainly don¡¯t want to be anywhere near a group of weres on the night of the full moon. We won¡¯t exactly be in what you¡¯d call a rational state of mind, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Well what about magic?¡± I asked, grasping desperately at straws. ¡°Any magic not tied up in our change is taken from us in payment by Goddess Moon on that night. There¡¯s nothing I can do,¡± his movements echoed his words as he shrugged his shoulders and tossed his hands up slightly. I thought hard, running one hand over the other, before stopping in sudden hope as my hand brushed across the runic shield bracelet that I¡¯d almost forgotten was still clasped onto my wrist. ¡°What about using a protective item,¡± I asked carefully, ¡°something that utilizes someone else¡¯s magic, but that you can invoke with a thought.¡± Miguel stilled, obviously running the possibilities through his mind before replying slowly as if he didn¡¯t believe the words, ¡°It¡¯d be hard to remember to use it when the wolf is in control, but if it¡¯s something that takes merely a thought to activate¡­ I think something like that might just work.¡± Mutely, I unclasped my bracelet and held it out to him, ¡°Just think about using it to shield and it will. It won¡¯t last long without my magic to reinforce it, but it should provide a full shield for at least a minute or two.¡± His hands were shaking slightly as he took it from me and I barely heard him as he whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡± After breakfast we went to self-defense. Having spent the last week getting an idea of our capabilities, Professor Saab first ran us through warm-ups, then a series of strengthening exercises before slowly splitting us off into smaller groups. Starting with the total beginners, he showed each group a different and increasingly harder sequence to practice with a partner. My own group was no different, the only surprising part being when Peter rushed over to snag me as his partner almost as soon as the professor ordered us to pair up. ¡°How are you doing?¡± he asked as we moved a bit to one side for some space. Having been told of his actions after my attack, I was more than a little unsure of his motivations. He did after all stop Professor Angoua from continuing to hurt me, but what my friends had witnessed him do to me in the hospital wing was more than a little bit freaky. Still, I felt I owed him at least a little and after throwing a punch to begin the sequence Saab had shown us, decided to answer honestly. ¡°Feeling off-balance mostly. I¡¯ll think that I¡¯m totally fine and then suddenly something comes up that I should have already known, then I¡¯ll realize that it¡¯s just one more thing I¡¯ve apparently forgotten.¡± I went on to explain what happened yesterday with Alouette before finishing with a lightly huffing voice from the exertion of my efforts, ¡°And I still don¡¯t even know what I did in the first place to set this Alouette girl off.¡± ¡°That would probably be my fault,¡± the vamp answered a bit sheepishly, ¡°At one point my father had entered into preliminary betrothal negotiations with her father on my behalf for her hand. Ever since then, and despite the fact that negotiations were broken off, she has believed that she has some sort of claim on me. Up until now it¡¯s mostly been harmless and my father preferred that I just let her be since her family is a pretty influential one, but she¡¯s obviously crossed a line.¡± His hand tightened where it gripped my arm as his eyes grew cold, ¡°No one gets in the way of what I declare is mine.¡± Continuing the exercise, I pried his hand off by way of his pinky and spun him around, ¡°I don¡¯t believe we ever did finish our discussion on that subject, you know, and I certainly take offence to you claiming me like some kind of object. I say, if she wants you so bad she can have you, because I certainly don¡¯t. And that¡¯s just what I¡¯ll tell her if she tries to start something, cause there is absolutely nothing going on between us.¡± He slipped out of my hold like an eel and in an obvious disregard towards our instructions, discontinued the exercise in favor of locking us face to face in place, his arms like steel encircling me in a breath-stealing tight cage. ¡°What are you..¡± I began before he cut me off. ¡°If you really think that there is nothing going on between us, then you¡¯re completely wrong.¡± Then he kissed me. It was even more breath-stealing than his grip and I felt a sudden weakness in my knees that surely would have made me fall if he wasn¡¯t holding me up as I quickly forgot my earlier words and even where we were, lost to the sensations he was invoking in me. It was only when a throat cleared next to us that I was startled back to awareness and realized that the professor and all of the class had stopped what they were doing to stare at us. I could feel my face become bright red in mortification even as I saw Peter throw out a smug grin towards our audience. I could barely stand to look at where I knew my friends were, knowing their thoughts already on this matter, instead turning elsewhere only to be greeted by Alouette¡¯s spitting mad image. Well, shit. I spent the rest of my free time this day and the next trying to avoid Peter who inexplicably always seemed to find me not long after I¡¯d settled into a new hiding place. My friends were no help at all in this having decided after our earlier kiss that my protestations were merely a ploy to play hard to get and since I was obviously interested in him, despite his creepy stalkerish tendencies, that I didn¡¯t really need, or even want, their help in protecting me from him. In fact, amused at what Isra described as our ¡®odd courtship ritual,¡¯ I think they even started actually helping him find me. No doubt, I thought generously, the need to distract Miguel from his anxieties, played a role in their deciding to aid Peter. Finally, Tuesday night, after the tenth time he showed up where I¡¯d hidden myself, that time with me tucked away in a tiny corner of the greenhouse, I threw up my hands in disgust at friends and would be suitors both and decided to hole up in my dorm room for the rest of the evening. I spent the time before bed doing homework, reading a good book on mind magic that I¡¯d borrowed from the library, and trying not to worry too much about Miguel once the moon rose. I was deep into my sleep cycle when a sudden loud noise had me instinctively rolling to the side off my bed before I was even really awake. An extremely lucky move since as soon as I forced my eyes open I was greeted by a slavering mouth, teeth only inches away from my face. I ¡®eeped¡¯ in shock and naturally tried to use my shield bracelet before quickly remembering that I¡¯d already lent it to Miguel and instead quickly lashing out with a fist. Not a bad move, since it kept the creature from eating my face off, but not a good one either since it had now captured my fist in its mouth. Then the pain hit. I screamed as the white wolf, as I could now see what it was, bit down and completely crunched through all the bones of my enclosed left hand and up past my wrist. I groped desperately under my pillow with my other hand, but had no time for a sense of relief as I finally gripped my Smith & Wesson and pulled it out just in time to watch the wolf chomp down once more and see my left hand disappear down its gullet. The following few seconds passed in a blur of bright light and thundering noise and exploding blood and gore as I quickly emptied every chamber in my revolver, firing directly into the werewolf¡¯s face and on into its brain, considering myself lucky for the fact that I¡¯d always packed a few silver rounds in it. Then, it was all over, and I paused at the sudden cessation to the bombardment of my senses. I don¡¯t know how long I stayed there frozen in shock, but a wave of dizziness hitting me forced me to look down at where blood was still gushing out from the ruin of my forearm and I moved instinctively to grab a belt and tighten it around the end. Thinking only to get to the hospital wing I stumbled out my door, blackness dancing at the edge of my vision and I was happy to be confronted with the anxious faces of Brian and Isra who¡¯d apparently been about to come in. As I gratefully collapsed into unconsciousness in their arms, I saw a crowd of other students gathered around us in the hall and distantly thought that I was glad I hadn¡¯t warded my room against sound. * * * It was the noisiness of the hospital ward, filled with whispers and moans, beeping machines, and the clamoring of multiple people moving about, that woke me up late the next day. I added to the general tumult with my own moan as I moved and pain hit me, the previous night¡¯s happenings coming back to me in a rush as I lifted the well wrapped stump at the end of my arm in disbelief. Luckily, I was interrupted from my increasingly panicky thoughts by a low raspy voice speaking up from my left. ¡°Hey.¡± The individual in question, lying in the bed next to me when I looked over, was a were, still in half-transformed state despite the setting of the moon hours ago, a state probably having something to do with the splint and bandaging wrapped around his tail. Reverting to human form would pull the tail bones back inside the body, a very bad thing if they were broken. The rest of his body wasn¡¯t much better, I saw, with numerous bandages covering large swatches of recently, and badly, shaved skin, including a scarily large one directly across the front of his neck. Looking higher I finally saw russet-colored fur and fox ears twitching at the top of his head and a quick glance at his face solidified the suspicion in my mind. ¡°Miguel?¡± I asked a little incredulously. He gave me a foxy grin and a little nod. ¡°You look terrible.¡± He gave small winces as he spoke and I knew talking must be hurting him, but he did it anyway, ¡°You too, but at least we¡¯re both alive. Thank you.¡± ¡°As much as I want to know what happened,¡± ¡°Me too,¡± he interjected. ¡°But,¡± I stressed the word, ¡°I don¡¯t think you should probably be talking right now.¡± So I told him my story instead, leaving out the fact that I¡¯d tried to use a certain shield bracelet I¡¯d lent to him and instead lost my hand. Still he must have sensed the words I left out cause he shot a pained, guilty look at me along with a brief, ¡°Sorry.¡± I shook my head at him, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I don¡¯t think anyone could have expected for someone to dump a full-moon crazed werewolf directly into my dorm room. And if it¡¯s anyone¡¯s fault, besides the crazy vamp who did so, it¡¯s mine, cause I was the idiot who forgot to ward my room against shadow-walking despite receiving one attack via that method already.¡± ¡°Not your fault,¡± Miguel rasped earnestly, ¡°mind damaged.¡± ¡°See, neither of our faults then, just that bastard who not only tried to kill me but whose actions forced me to kill that poor werewolf, someone who had no real control over their actions and could have been just an innocent bystander in all this!¡± Tears were creeping out the corners of my eyes as it hit me that I had actually killed someone, a person, just last night. ¡°Not your fault!¡± Miguel almost yelled, an action that forced him into a series of painful sounding wet coughs that made him spit up great gobs of blood and flesh. It was only my immediate concern for him that forced me out of the dark space I¡¯d started spiraling down into and instead made me cross the space between us to wrap my handless arm around his back (mentally lamenting my lack of grip at the back of my mind) and holding up a towel to his mouth as the intense coughs wracked his body. ¡°Shh, shh,¡± I whispered, ¡°I know I didn¡¯t really have a choice,¡± I willed myself to believe my words as I continued to comfort my friend, ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to find out who¡¯s the one really responsible and make sure that he pays.¡± I ended on a dark tone, but was forced into a small grin when Miguel held up one shaking fist. I bumped his fist gently with my own and we both settled into a kind of happy shared contentment until the healer came in to check on us and forced me back into my own bed. Introduced as Jin Ba-Hai, a name I was excited to recognize as the professor of the Academy¡¯s healing classes, the blue-skinned fae was substituting for Healer Barker due to his own transformation the prior night. As he changed my bandages and put a healing ointment on my stump, the Chinese healer explained that while there were multiple routes, including magical prosthesis¡¯, to giving me a new hand, it was the policy of the Academy to allow students, and I quote, ¡®the opportunity to discover a working possibility for themselves¡¯ and thus, he wasn¡¯t allowed to give me one. Just yet another example of the school¡¯s sink or swim policies, I thought grimly, setting loose a cripple in a place filled with dangerous predators. But, ha, what choice did I really have? I continued to stew in my thoughts as the healer changed Miguel¡¯s bandages, only half-listening as he told the fox how lucky he was to be a were since all his injuries were healing nice and quick. If they continued to heal at his current rate, he might even be able to get out of the hospital ward by tomorrow morning. And then he could get on to managing his new pack, Mr. Alpha Fox. Wait, what?! I hurriedly backtracked the healer¡¯s last teasing comment and looked over incredulously at my friend now looking sheepishly back at me. Just what the hell happened last night? It was later that day, once Miguel was able to get some paper and a pen to tell me, that I found out what had happened to him was simply that after one of the older students had decided to challenge Vaara, the alpha had decided, after beating down the challenger, that he needed to make sure that no one else got such ideas. According to Miguel, he had planned to play submissive, but after Vaara killed the already beaten challenger, his own fox apparently had other ideas and wasn¡¯t going to put up with being another¡¯s punching bag. As soon as Vaara approached where he was pretending to meekly cower, he rolled, faking like he was going to expose his belly, and instead swiped out with one paw, raking his claws across Vaara¡¯s face, smacking it down and tearing through his left eye along the way. The ensuing fight was vicious, their growls and snarls and yips echoing through the cave they¡¯d been placed in, their bodies a tangle of flailing limbs and hungry teeth and claws that eagerly sought whatever available chunks they could take out of the other¡¯s hide. In the last few moments, Miguel told me that Vaara faked him out and it wasn¡¯t until he had Vaara¡¯s teeth in his throat that his human mind was able to surface from the beast¡¯s bloodlust and remember the shield bracelet. Activating it at once, the magical barrier threw the other wolf off of him, and tore a large chunk out of Miguel¡¯s neck in the process. It wasn¡¯t until a little while later, after Miguel¡¯s neck had healed enough for him to sit up without reopening it too much that he found out Vaara had been thrown onto a stalagmite. The sharp stone pierced straight through his chest and completely obliterated his heart. And so, with Miguel¡¯s actions during his challenge having led directly to Vaara¡¯s death, he was now stuck as the new Alpha fox. A situation that his human self was currently none too happy about, especially since he now had three other foxes who looked to him for protection and guidance. In between my snorts and giggles of amusement, I simply told him that at least he had friends to help him out. * * * ¡°This is an utter disaster John!¡± Brian Hastings almost yelled as he burst into his director¡¯s office. Looking none too surprised at his entrance, Whitman simply continued massaging his forehead, ¡°You think I don¡¯t already know that?¡± he replied, gesturing with his free hand to the mess of papers strewn across his desk, ¡°There have been dozens (Dozens!) of confirmed lycanthrope attacks from last night. We already have three victims confirmed dead and hundreds more have been injured and might yet die or worse become weres themselves! ¡°Rats, wolves, coyotes, even two bears and a tiger! An actual weretiger for God¡¯s sake! It¡¯s like every single were went crazy Tuesday night and decided to deliberately change in a populated area! Eleven of them are also confirmed dead, with far too many of their bodies now in hands too dangerous for them to be in! And if that¡¯s not enough, some of them even got caught on camera! Two in the midst of changing! The media is in an absolute, blood-in-the-water, frenzy over all of this and I¡¯m supposed to advise the President in two hours how to deal with these, and I quote, ¡®Deliberate attacks against the citizens of our nation.¡¯¡± He banged one fist down hard onto his desk in frustration. Hastings stilled as a sudden thought struck him, ¡°Do you think this has anything to do with the information Jess sent us on Albot?¡± John Whitman sighed and rubbed at his eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t know Brian. We only just found out about him and haven¡¯t really been able to start digging into his activities. Besides, we don¡¯t even know for certain that he is a daemon! If I judged by the outraged speeches he¡¯s made over this incident, I never would have guessed that he might not be fully human. I certainly can¡¯t see how he could be involved in this deliberate attempt to out the existence of weres. Still, we¡¯re going to have to keep a close eye on him anyways, hope he slips up somewhere. There¡¯s just something that I know I¡¯m missing, some link that I unknowingly crossed somewhere before.¡± He shook his head, ¡°I guess that doesn¡¯t really matter much right now. My biggest concern is to convince the President to help explain and cover up these attacks. I still don¡¯t believe it would be a good idea to remove the cover of secrecy just yet. I can only imagine what the other races might feel free to do once it¡¯s gone. We might win the inevitable war, due to our sheer overwhelming numbers, but we¡¯d also probably lose at least ten of ours for every one of theirs. No one wants that kind of blood shed, it¡¯s the whole reason the vow of secrecy was put into place. I¡¯m really worrying why someone has decided to try and break it right now and just what they will decide to do next.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hastings replied wearily, ¡°but I¡¯m afraid that if someone¡¯s made it their goal to lift the veil on magic, that things will only get worse before they get better.¡±