- Gabriella -

The room went absolutely silent for several heartbeats. When I thought I could almost hear a pin dropping, they traded glances. An unspoken message seemed to be said between them.

"What?" I said because I wanted to break this strange awkward dissonance.

"They do. In fact, we are living proof." Fenrys said. "And you're one of us or at least part fae too." I looked at him, wondering what bullshit he was spewing. With a sigh he said, "Let me show you."

The air around him began to shimmer strangely, and I gasped, not quite believing my eyes. Fenrys disappeared and in his place stood a girl with the same chestnut hair, the same eyes and even the same build, staring right back at me. She has the same full lips which curled upwards revealing a perfect row of teeth.

My mouth opens for a fraction and then closes again. "No freaking way." I narrowed my eyes at the girl who looks like me, refusing to believe it.

Copycat places both hands on her hips and narrows her eyes, looking like a perfect mirror image of me. My jaw dropped.

"Stop it Fenrys. That's enough." Jonathan smacked "me" lightly on the shoulders. The experience was honestly extremely unsettling. To watch my body doing things I didn't tell it to do. I have an urge to slap this cheap imitation of me and half the urge to laugh it off. My copycat disappeared and the boy with tawny curls appeared.

"How did you... How did you do that? How could you turn into me?" I asked him still reeling from the shock.

"I'm a shapeshifter." He shrugged. "We are all demi-fae except for Damien, and the six of us form a squad called S.P.A.D. for short. Damien is our leader and our main goal is eliminating faeries who pose a threat to mortal well-being."

I looked at each of them, absorbing the information, and the six of them studied me while I absorbed silently.

"Since you know about us and the existence of fae, let's talk about the topic at hand. That night you told me you didn't know what condition your body was in. I assume that you didn't know that you're part fae?" Damien took the reins of the conversation automatically, like it was natural for him to do so. I noted this silently before nodding.

I guess it's true when they said he was the squad leader. The dynamics feel centered around him.

"And you have been suffering from iron- no this condition since you were very young, but you just recently awoke your powers?" I shrugged but Damien wasn't exactly asking me but muttering to himself. Instead of responding to me, he steepled his hands together and placed his elbows on the dining table, deep in thought. "This explains a lot. Like her reaction and her distrust. Most of all she doesn't even know we exist." He muttered to himself.

"Um. Sorry but can someone explain this to me?" I said as I waved my hand in front of Damien to get him to look at me. "What exactly happened? What did you guys mean by powers? What powers did I have? And how is it that I remember seeing a strange boy but also a man? Who is he? What were those dangerous white-looking stuff in that pouch?" I looked at him expectantly, slightly confused but trusting him to tell me everything.

"What you saw, that boy, was a glamour used by him. The man is what he truly is and he is a Sidhe. A high-born fae." Damien sighed. "And he was forcing a girl to consume faerie drugs which are those crystals you saw." I thought back to that night and I remember the delicate features of that strange man. The weird glowing citrine eyes, pointed ears and the tangible taste of my fear. I shuddered.

"You were an idiot. Playing the hero when your opponent was a sidhe? You could have died!" Fenrys scowled at Damien. "Well, luckily, if it weren't for her else we would all be rotting in hell or spirited away by that kitsune."

"Me?" I said looking confused as Fenrys jabbed a fork in my direction.

"Yes you. Gabriella right?" Fenrys stared at me but my expression remained blank. "You don't remember anything do you?" He frowned.

"Girl, you were like a walking powerhouse. I've never seen any magic like that. You raised your hand and boom the whole place caught on fire." Vesna said eyeing me a little enviously.

"Wait a minute. Fire? Like literally fire shooting from my fingertips?" My brows shot upwards to my hairline.

"Yes." Vesna said grinning. "Except it didn't shoot out from your fingertips. It exploded from within you." She pointed and tapped somewhere at her navel. "From your reserves." Then as if she couldn't stand it anymore, she started giggling. Her giggling turned to laughter as we stared at her in shock. Her laughter was infectious and suddenly I felt this whole thing to be so silly and funny that I started laughing as well.

"Gosh... I never thought that I would... meet another fire wielder." She somehow managed to speak in between her fits of laughing. "It has always been me in this group. Aha. Now that's refreshing."

Shaking his head, Damien eyes us bewilderedly but says nothing. As our laughing fit ended, I spotted Fenrys mouthing something to Jonathan after he swallows his food. "Girls. Can't understand what they're thinking." I raised my brows at him which earned him a shove from Jonathan who shook his head apologetically at me.

"So... so you can control fire and you can shapeshift. What about the rest?" I caught my breath as I looked at the two other boys who decided to join us and are munching away at the remaining toasts. Since there were only six chairs, Vesna reached over and plucked one of the egg toasts from the plate and bit into it while standing.

"My twin brother, Jonathan, can also shapeshift." Fenrys says since the other two were too busy eating to reply. "Qas, the boy to my left can control water as well as its healing properties and Raziel the guy beside Damien can control air and sometimes space, depending on the situation." The both of them looked up briefly at the mention of their names and waved. With our introductions done, I feel I am getting more receptive to this bunch of people and I let down my guard.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Damien Ytger is like how I imagined him to be, mature, responsible and a great leader. They told me stories of their missions and how sometimes Damien made mistakes. Somehow, his blunder turned out to be a stroke of luck and other times they had to find a solution to the complicated mess. I laughed along with their chatter even though my brain struggled to process what it felt like to be on a mission. Embarrassed, Damien told them to shut up and threatened them with a week's worth of household chores.

It wasn't even two hours and exhaustion settled in the pit of my stomach. The room spun and my eyelids felt heavy. I didn't even realised that my head was bobbing forward.

"Let's get you some rest sweetheart." Vesna says as they cleared the plates and washed the dishes. Damien was already gone, off to fulfill his squad leader duties. He is definitely a very busy person. I thought in the haze of my sleepiness. "You need rest. You just had a burnout." Vesna tugs me up gently.

That word again. I heard that from Jonathan too. What exactly does it mean?

"What about my three days worth of homework?" I mumbled as she led me back into her room. Her grip is surprisingly strong as she balances my weight upwards against her own.

"Think about that later." She laughs. I mumbled something about hell with homework which made her laugh again. Soon, we are inside her bedroom and the familiar smell of exotic perfume fills my nostrils. As my head hit her pillow, I closed my eyes and I felt her patting my hair. "Sleep now. My fiery brethren." She whispered before I drifted into slumberland.

***

- Damien -

"Is the situation in the school settled?" My father's commanding voice sounded over the speakers of my phone.

"Yes. We found the gateway." I said as I leaned back against my high-back chair in my room. My fingers played with the magic-reading device absent-mindedly.

"Good. Send me the coordinates and tell me about the other situation." He said. Distantly, I can hear conference voices through his side of the line.

"What other situation?" I echoed.

I know he knows that I am feigning blur. But it was the only tactic I had up my sleeve. I need to buy myself some time. There was a slight pause in the receiving end as I heard my father's muffled voice talking to someone in the conference. I caught the words new agent and addition before they stopped murmuring.

"Son. You know exactly which situation I am referring to. In case you decide to forget it conveniently, let me remind you. Tell me the source of the spike in magic that night. I have information pointing that it belongs to a demi-fae."

Crap. Seems like I can't spin my way out of this one.

My father doesn't call me "son" unless he wishes to punish me senseless and I mean the kind of beating until you pass out from it. It's his term of endearment which means "I expect a lot from you, do not disappoint me."

"She's just a student studying here. We are still unsure of her heritage." I kept my answers as vague as possible. Please let it pass. Please just let this girl go unnoticed.

"Oh?" Came my father's distracted reply. "Is that so?"

I almost sighed in relief. Almost.

"Yes. We are still trying our best to find out from her." I say. He seems distracted from whatever conference he is holding with his cabinet ministers, which is good. Yes, whoever you are, keep talking to him. Distract him. As long as he doesn't check on the detailed reports, he wouldn't know the extent of her powers.

"Mm. Try to recruit her into the P.D. if possible, we will never know when we needed the extra manpower. That said I have something to tell you. Remember the undercover agent we placed as a stronghold in the school?"

"Yeah. You mean the agent who is working as a History Professor?" I confirmed again just to make sure.

"Yes Damien, at least you've been listening." I rolled my eyes. When did I ever not listened? Not like I could openly defy him. "She goes by the name Professor Bella and she will be a new addition to your squad." My father said, "You will initiate contact with her. Even if the person in-charge has told her about her promotion, I still want you to do it the traditional way." I nodded at his orders and then realised he couldn't see me through the phone.

"Yes father. I will do so." I said, ever the loyal son and soldier. Person in-charge my ass. Just admit that it was you.

"Good. When this all blows over, you and I, let's have a father-to-son talk." He sounds happy but I know this looming conversation is not something I wanted to face. This is too soon. I'm not prepared. Shit. "It's time we talk about your future partner and also your political seat." Wait what? My partner?

I choked on the saliva in my mouth and coughed roughly. Gods no. You gotta be kidding.

"What's wrong son? Did you fall sick?" My father asked me, in disbelief before his short bark of a laughter sounded over the phone. "Go visit the doctor if you are down with the flu. Last thing you need is to fall ill and be indisposed."

"I -cough- No, my throat feels dry that's all." I said struggling to get back my composure. Freak. Get it back together before he realizes. "By the way father, why? Why is there a new additon to my squad?"

"Is that what I taught you? Your orders were not to question but to act accordingly. Do not step out of the line recruit." My father's authorative voice boomed from the speakers. "I'll give you another chance to phrase your words properly."

I tightened my fingers into a fist in annoyance at his command, but a half-thought prevented me from biting back. Coward. You're a coward Damien. I whispered silently in my head, hating myself for feeling so powerless.

"I apologise sir. If it would be possible, may I know what this member can bring to my squad?" I swallowed my anger and that mess of an emotions down. Compose yourself. This isn't the right time to screw up.

I can feel my father's half smile of satisfaction as he spoke. "Good." But this time, his acknowledgement did nothing to quell the rising anger in me, it only made me want to scream in frustration at my own pathetic self. What is wrong with me? I am a soldier. Soldiers have no emotions. I recited the commandments silently in my head and slowly, my mind cleared and the familiar sense of calming numbness swept upon me. Yes. This is what I am. A soldier and nothing else.

"I figured you'll need extra manpower to guard the gateway since there won't be troops dispatched to guard it until a month later. The girl Bella has also proven to be capable enough to join your team. Anything else?" Sometimes I feel like punching his face just to wipe that arrogant and authoritative tone off his mouth. My father is a powerful and cruel man who does not love anyone but himself.

Once, maybe in another life, he might have been capable of loving others. A house filled with a charming family - a doting wife and a beautiful son. But now, the caring man of his past is dead. Shadows lingered in his eyes and guns loaded with bullets hid in his drawers. He is no longer living but an empty shell of his former self. A shell that contains only wrath and revenge.

"No. Nothing." I said as he hung up without saying goodbye.

"Bastard." I whispered, blinking away the tears pricking my eyes. I almost hurled my phone against the wall, but then I realised it was the one I had specially custom-made and not the usual anonymous caller ID I receive for missions.

With a muffled curse, I leaned against the backrest and stared out of my bedroom window. The view of the evergreen in the University sparkled temptingly and the beautiful city sprawled below me. A view so beautiful but void of affection. Well, Gabriella is safe for now. I'll try to figure something out along the way. And this new member who gained my father's attention... who is Bella?

I rubbed my temples with my fingers. There is only one way to find out. I need to contact Bella.