I dragged myself to my band locker and put away my clarinet as I tried to wake up unsuccessfully. I just felt like I didn’t get enough sleep even though I got a good seven hours. I had groggily been able to survive marching today but I doubted I’d last the day at this rate.
(T) ‘Stop being such a wuz lass. Perc up, the day is just starting.’
(B) ‘Easy for you to say when you don’t have a body.’
I then hear a locker close to my right and I see Rachel who looks at me with concern.
“You feeling okay? You didn’t look very good this morning. Everything alright?”
“Other then you taking a large share of the auction yesterday I’m fine. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
“Hey, I set up the whole auction so it’s only fair that I take more to cover all the expenses of hosting one.”
“Sure, you keep saying that.”
“Something wrong over here? You guys have a bad date week.”
I looked behind me to see Alice standing behind Rachel with her hands on Rachel’s shoulders.
“It wasn’t a date Alice, it was a quest I was doing. Rachel decided to cut herself a 70/30 reward split when we finished the quest though.”
“I told you it’s just the fees the setting up the sale!”
“See Rachel, this is why you can’t get a boyfriend. You just try to take all the money they have.”
“That’s not true I'm just being economical.”
“You keep deluding yourself Rachel I won’t stop you.”
“Get back here Alice!”
Rachel then chased after Alice as they left to go to their second period. I took my backpack out of my locker and was about to do the same when the intercom in the bandroom went off.
“Mr. Scott, can you send Brenner to the office.”
Great what did I do this time?
As I make my way to the office I puzzled over why they would have called for me. I don’t remember pissing off any teachers recently, and I had stopped running to all my classes, all the time. Why would they call me?
I opened the door to see a tall man dressed in a full suit with a bright blue tie. He had nicely cut hair and was wearing a pair of glasses that seemed to give him an air of intelligence.
He wasn’t part of the office staff I would have known with the number of times I’ve been sent here.
(T) ‘I don’t like this.‘
“Ah, you must be Brenner it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He offered his hand and I accepted the gestured confused as to why this man would know my name.
“My name is Ryan and I have come to offer you a personal invitation to our prestigious school. We took a look at your academic and extracurricular record and have found that you fit our criteria perfectly.”
(M) ‘What kind of criteria allows for such mediocre academics.’
(B) ‘Hey, my grades aren’t that bad.’
“I have more information in the conference room you can look over and if you have any questions feel free to ask. I already got an okay from your principal for your transfer and you may take all day to decide on what you think of my offer.”
Something was wrong here. There is no way you can get all that done so quickly. This guy is either lying or using some kind of magic because there is no way you can streamline school bureaucracy that quickly.
Not wanting to draw suspicion I follow him to the conference room where there is a stack of pamphlets with information about some school. I skimmed through it all trying my best to understand why they choose me. Unless, could this guy be connected with that bird from yesterday?
I look up from the documents and look the man in the eyes. I should have done a soul check when we shook hands, but the thought had slipped my mind. Maybe it was for the best though, he might have had some kind of detection method.
I turned to make sure the door was closed before I took a deep breath and asked him a question.
“Who sent you?”
“Whatever do you mean, I told you already. I am a representative of this school and we’d love for you to come and join us.”
“Why me though? I get decent grades but nothing exemplary and I certainly haven’t done anything to warrant your attention.”
“Don’t be so sure, we don’t look for such superficial things. The reason we choose you was because of what’s inside you.”
(J) ‘Like our heart and spirit!’
(M) ‘Shut it you dump oaf.’
I didn’t like this he had to know what has been happening to me, but how?
“Care to elaborate?”
Ryan set a briefcase on the table and punched in a combination before opening it up and taking out a stack of papers. He then set them on the table before sliding them towards me. But the air conditioner picked up the papers and spread them across the room.
(J & T) ‘HAHAHA!’
(E) ‘Be quit you two this is serious!’
“Oh come on!”
He quickly stood up and gathered the papers that had scattered across the room while I stifled a laugh. He might be a threat but I had to admit that was hilarious. He then set the stack of paper in front of me before sitting back down.
“You are a kitsune. That is why we are interested in you.”
(B) ‘He knows, he knows! What do I do?’
(M) ‘Remember just act casually I bet he doesn’t have any hard evidence.”
I tried to hide my emotions the best I could and flipped through the documents. They showed some pictures of me and my recent doctor’s visit. I looked through it all but I couldn’t find anything incriminating. I thought I would be able to blow this off as a joke until I saw my sister’s test results at the bottom of the stack of papers. They had a chart of various comparative results showing a list of fey creatures.
(M) ‘Okay, maybe he does have evidence.’
“As you can see I know that your soul isn’t human. So stop with the act and let’s get real here.”
“I have no idea what you mean and none of this makes sense. How can I be a kitsune? They are a female race, aren’t they?”
“They are, but how would you know that?”
Crap I said too much.
“Unless you met your mother and she unlocked your potential.”
He took out a picture and when I looked at it I couldn’t hide my shock at what it held. It was a picture of Velouria, but how is that possible?
(J) ‘How does he know all of this?’
(B) ‘I don’t know I barely understand this myself.’
“You see Brenner, I represent an organization that handles matters between our worlds. Usually for people like yourself, your nature manifests itself over time. But in your case, it seems your nature was heavily repressed.”
“I don’t think I understand what you’re talking about. What nature?”
“Your soul isn’t human. It’s rare but not impossible I’ve only heard of four such cases before which makes you the fifth. Usually, crossings between our worlds only lead to people coming over, not souls. It’s the reason for many of our myths and legends here on Earth.”
I didn’t like this. He might know information that I could need, but I didn’t trust this, it felt off.
“But how can my soul not be human? I’ve never met you before.and how can I trust some test?”
I toss my sister’s test results back at him trying to convey my disbelief in his evidence, while on the inside I believed every word. He looked displeased but not surprised by my reaction.
“Look I know this is a lot to take in and that we have just met, but I must assure you that I am telling you the truth.”
(B) ‘What do you guys think? I’m still iffy about all this.’
(T) ‘Just go with it. He might have some answers you need lass.’
(M) ‘I’m still not sure.’
(E) ‘Me neither how do we even know if he’s being authentic.’
I tried to keep a straight face as I faced him. I wanted to trust him, but I still didn’t know his intentions.
“As an act of trust how about this. Aurora, say hello to the young man.”
A rush of wind converged behind the man revealing a woman leaning against the wall.
“Hello.”
(M) ‘Okay, he can use magic as well. I say we go with him.’
(T) ‘I agree!’
(E) ‘Is it because of the woman next to him?’
(T) ‘No, not at all.’
(J) ‘I don’t think you’re telling the truth.’
(T) ‘Oh, shut it John, no one asked you.’
She had just appeared out of nowhere. How’d she do that?
“Sir they have men all around the school looks to be about half a dozen men.”
Half a dozen men? What the hell is happening? Are my worst fears coming to fruition? The man sighed as if it was a nuisance but no threat.
“Well looks like they found you about the same time as we did. They must have set something on that tracker that alerted them when we destroyed it.”
“Destroyed what? Who’s outside waiting for me and who are you!”
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“Like I said earlier I’m here to help you and those men outside want you dead and if want to live I suggest you come with us.”
“Do I have a choice?”
(T) ‘Just go with him lass!’
(M) ‘I agree with the dwarf on this one.’
“If you want to live, no. For now, follow me we need to get out of here before they realize you’re here. You can contact your parents when I take you somewhere safe.”
As he said this he stood up and took the papers back locking them in the briefcase before opening the door holding it open.
“You coming?”
I still wasn’t sure about this but everyone else seemed to be okay with this. Getting up I follow them out of the conference room. He then stops as we are about to leave before taking out a piece of paper.
“Before we leave I need you to sign here. School policy before I can take you out, you know how it is.”
I take the secretary's pen and scribble down my name. He then hands the paper to the secretary as we leave the office.
“Bye Brenner!”
As we leave he has a grin on his face.
“So the office knows your name do they?”
“I visit them a lot so what?”
“Nothing I just find it funny. It fits with your mischievous nature.”
“Shouldn’t we be focusing on getting out of here?”
“Aurora is taking care of that problem all we have to do is get to my car.”
As we near the front entrance two men start walking towards us in suits. When they spot us they start running towards us.
“I think they found us.”
(J) ‘That lady really wasn’t lying about there being more of them.’
(B) ‘I can see that perfectly well John.’
“Damn it! I didn’t expect them to already be inside.”
He then digs a gem out of his coat pocket and throws it at them releasing a cloud of gas.
“Hurry up! We got to move.”
I follow him out of the building and start running after him as he opens up an AMW to get inside. I open the passenger side and get inside as well. Once inside, he guns the engine in reverse before shifting into 1st gear and driving towards the front entrance. I look behind us to see two humvees driving behind us.
“I thought you had a plan to get us out of here!”
“I do, it’s up ahead.”
He switches into second gear as he pulls onto the road and speeds up way past the speed limit as we shoot down the road.
“What the hell are you doing? You’re going to get us killed!”
“Buckle up kid we’ll be fine. Aurora almost has our escape ready.”
I strap in as I look in the mirror to see the humvees approaching behind us. But what surprised me was that clouds seemed to be forming above us as we drove. With distant thundering on the horizon. What the hell was Aurora doing?
Pulling into the leftmost lane he then did an insane drift into the opposite lane passing the humvees as they tried their best to follow. I was gripping my seat hoping we wouldn’t crash.
(E) ‘Are you sure this was a good idea!’
(B) ‘No, I don’t.’
(T) ‘Stop worrying lass, it’s only a car chase besides the guy looks to be pretty competent.’
(B) ‘That’s not the point!’
Ahead of us, the clouds were now converged and a fog was starting to form on the road lowering our view distance with each second. But instead of slowing down he throttled the engine and speed up into the fog. I could only sit and pray I hadn’t chosen poorly as he continued to duck and weave in traffic.
After a couple minutes we were somehow back to my house, but I was still stuck in my seat with my body refusing to let go out of fear.
“Alright kid go inside and pack up anything you want to bring with you. I say we have, about twenty minutes before they start to swarm the place.”
“Who and what’s going on!”
“Like I said you were found out. We’re not the only group after you. Now hurry up if you want to get anything.”
As I manage to stand up and walk inside I hear a ringing in my pocket. Taking out my phone I see that it’s Blake. Why was he calling?
“Hello?”
“DUDE! What the hell is going on? We were driving back to school when all of sudden we saw you in some sports car getting chased by humvees!”
“You saw that! Wait, why were you driving back to school?”
“We were picking up some doughnuts for health class. But enough about that. What is going on?”
“Hell if I know to be honest. Some guy offered a full ride to some school. Then a couple minutes later some other people showed up after me for some reason. Then we got into a car chase like you saw.”
“Are you being serious man, that all sounds like something from a TV show.”
If only that was the end of my problems.
“Well if you don’t hear from me for a while you know what happened at least.”
“Wait, Brenner don’t -“
(J) ‘That was rude of you.’
(B) ‘It’s our problem, not his.’
I hung up the phone before silencing it and putting it in my pocket. I didn’t want anyone else to get involved. This was my burden to bear and I didn’t want anyone else getting caught up in all this.
It might be selfish of me, but the people after me seemed dangerous and I wouldn't forgive myself if any of them came to any harm. This was my problem and I’d deal with my own problems.
Going to my room I pack a set of clothes, some toiletries, as well as a framed picture of my family. I also wear the SQO helmet since it doesn’t fit in my bag. I look stupid as hell but I need the system. It’s my only connection to my alter self. As I am about to walk out I stop and turn around to take in my room one last time.
“What lies in store for us?”
(T) ‘Don’t know lass all we can do is take it one step at a time.”
(E) ‘Do we really have to go I mean -’
(M) ‘We have to go Elizabeth. We all knew this was going to happen eventually.’
(J) ‘That may be true but I honestly expected that they wouldn’t find us for at least a month. But we only had about a week and a half.’
“The world doesn’t wait for anyone I guess.”
I didn't know how to feel about all this. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t know how to react. All I knew was I couldn’t stay here any longer. I close the door to my house for the last time and get into the passenger seat.
Ryan is silent as he guns it out of the neighborhood. After a couple minutes, we are cruising along a highway to who knows where. I can only hope I put my cards in the right basket.
“You’re a lot quieter than I thought you’d be. No questions?”
“I think I’ll understand more when we arrive at this school.”
“True they’ll probably do a better job of explaining it all.”
He then goes silent as we cruise down the highway.
“So what exactly are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you human?”
“Yeah, why do you ask? Do I not look human?”
“No it’s just, I’m not sure how you fit into magic and the other world.”
“Just a family deal, the gig also pays quite well. The only cons are the occasional run-in with other organizations and an angered fey those jobs aren’t fun.”
“So how do you feel about me not being entirely human?”
“Honestly I don’t care. I deal with enough stuff it doesn’t matter to me. But, I can tell you now that I’m not in the majority.”
He then pulls off the highway onto some side roads I don’t know why. Maybe he’s trying to shake pursuers.
“So why’d you bring the helmet?”
“It’s how I found out about my lineage funnily enough.”
“That is a worrying development then.”
“Why?”
“Because it means I’m going to busy soon. If what you're saying is true then others could be affected later. We had heard rumors but you’re my first case after its release. I thought Velouria had done something across worlds not that you met her personally.”
“How do you know her exactly?”
“I don’t, but she has messed around with our organization before so we know about her.”
“So who else is at this school?”
“You mean the kids? Well, we’ve got a couple half-elves. A harpy, a cyclops, some satyrs, a spriggan, a changeling to name a few. There are too many for me to keep track of. Never had a kitsune around though. Can you use any magic yet?”
“Not really, but I can glimpse into people.”
“Like an empath?”
“I guess but not really, it’s more of a reading of who a person is, but I have to have physical contact with them.”
“You looked at me yet?”
“No, I didn’t think to and I didn’t know if you had any countermeasures.”
“Want to check then?”
He held out his right arm as he drove with his left. I take him right and look into his soul. When I do I find myself staring at a desolate desert with markers all around with rumbling stormclouds overhead. It’s weird, it feels more depressed then dangerous here.
“What did you see?”
“A desert, I can’t make complete sense of it all, but it feels like your conflicted about something. But it seems directed at yourself and not others. Like your mad at yourself.”
“Damn kid, I didn’t think you’d be this good.”
He then pulls back onto the highway and puts both hands on the wheel as he gets up to speed. I sat in silence pondering what I’d just seen. He looked saddened by something but what I couldn’t tell. I could feel no hostility towards me though which made me a little more comfortable with my decision.
I leaned back in my chair as the rocking of the car on the road rocked me to sleep. I closed my eyes as my exhaustion took hold.
Waking up I found that we were in at a gas station. The man had his hand on his shoulder shaking me awake.
“Hey, you want some lunch?”
“Sure just give me a minute.”
I get out of the car and stretch my legs as we go inside and get some fast food. We ended up ordering the same thing and sitting down in a booth cause he didn’t want to dirty his car. As he digs into his burger I can’t help but wonder where Aurora is.
“Did you leave Aurora behind? I thought we’d be picking her up or something.”
“She’s a wind spirit. She’s been following us this whole time, haven’t you.”
I’m confused at first until I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see her behind me.
“I have but you ruined my little surprise. Anyways they’ve stopped following us thanks to me of course.”
“Looks like we’ve got nothing to worry about than.”
We then finish our meal before we get back in the car and before I know it I’ve fallen asleep again. I wake up to him shaking me awake again as we pull into a gated area. The gate opens to reveal a large stretch of land with farm animals about.
“Farm animals? What is this a ranch?”
“Yes, but we don’t really export any of them we usually go through most of them ourselves.”
“What are you doing with this many animals?”
“Eating them, there are a lot of people here and some of them have large appetites.”
As he drives along the road I see some trees and what looks to be some deer on the outskirts. What exactly was this place? I thought it was a school. But it looks like a nature preserve. I look up to see some birds up in the sky. Or at least I think they are. I’m not sure what exactly what I’m going to find here.
As we pull into the driveway of a large manor style house surrounded by dormitory housing I’m surprised to find nothing unusual in sight. As I get out Ryan motions for me to follow him into the house.Walking up the steps he opens the door and I’m struck by the souls I detect inside. I stop in my tracks as the shock wears off.
Walking inside I set my helmet and backpack on a nearby table.The room is filled with wooden chairs and skins on the floor. Giving the atmosphere of a hunting cabin.
“Hey cousin!”
I’m startled as I feel a weight on my back knocking me to the floor.Throwing the weight off my back I see a young boy probably around 13 with a wolf tail and ears. I’m shocked for a second as I’m not sure how to respond.
“Where are your tail and ears?”
He then begins to search my hair before I push him away.
“Get off me! Why the hell did you jump on me?”
“Leave him alone Jack, why aren’t you with the others eating dinner?”
“I waiting for you to get back. I couldn’t wait to meet the new kid!”
He stands up and offers his hand as he smiles with a huge grin on his face.
“Name’s Jack, nice to meet you cousin.”
He seems to be quite energetic but why is he calling me cousin.
(T) ‘He looks just like you doesn’t he lass.’
(B) ‘Shut it Teage.’
“Brenner, nice to meet you. Why are you calling me cousin? I’m pretty sure we aren’t related.”
“But both our species are canines right?”
“What are you exactly?”
“He’s an Okami, a wolf spirit. Though they usually get lumped together with werewolves so they aren’t that well known.”
Ryan was standing off to the side with a wide grin on his face.
“I still don’t feel comfortable calling you my cousin. I already have enough family issues at the moment.”
“So are you staying with us?”
“For the moment, it looks like I am.’
“Then I’ve got to give you the tour of the place. First we can -”
“Easy Jack, we’ve got to see the old man first. Is he with the others in the dining room?”
“Yeah, but can I at least show him around afterward?”
“Sure, I’ll have you show me around the place when we are done.”
Unconsciously I rub his head before quickly retracting my hand. No wonder people around me had a hard time resisting me as Briana. I felt bad for doing it but could see the appeal. As I go to get my stuff Ryan stops me.
“Don’t worry about it, the brownies will take care of it.”
I decided to not question it. From what I could remember I believe they were household fairies or something.
We then made our way deeper into the building were a whole host of mythology was laid out in front of me. With food and laughter being spread throughout the room. I saw a couple heads turn but for the most part, they were all focused on their food.
Ryan made his way down to the end of one of the tables where an old white-haired man sat laughing with some adults. When he saw us he excused himself before leading us somewhere. It was to loud to hear anything so all I could assume was he was taking us somewhere quieter.
Taking us off into a side room we found ourselves in an office where a large desk took up the center of the space.
“So I bet you have many questions for me.”
The old man took his seat behind the desk and we took our seat in the two seats in front of his desk.
“Do I ever, but what I want to know is who are you. Since you clearly know more about me than I do you.”
The man chuckled as he opened a drawer taking out a stack of papers which was probably a file that had gathered on me. Setting it to the side as he turned to me.
“That we do and I am more than willing to oblige. My name is Dr. Mason and I welcome you to my school.”