Families

by Katrina Kahler

  “Come in,” Ms. Elena said. “You three truly are fine specimens!”

  Walking in, I said, “I hope we passed your little test.”

  Ms. Elena laughed. “My dear, that was not a test. We had hoped to subdue you so we could convince you to join us. But clearly, you are stronger than we thought.”

  “I told you they’re a threat!” Jimmy’s mom said.

  “Nonsense,” Ms. Elena said. “I consider them to be future assets.” Putting a hand on my shoulder, she said, “Nina, we can do more together than we can apart.”

  Pointing down the hallway at the smashed weapons, I asked, “Is that how you treat your assets? Then I’d hate to see how you treat your friends!”

  “Believe you me, honey, you don’t want to see how I treat enemies,” Elena laughed.

  “Do you have any mimics working for you?” Adra demanded, not wasting any time.

  Ms. Elena shook her head. “Nope.”

  “Seems like they’d be useful to an operation like yours!” Aunt Mika added.

  Ms. Elena groaned. “Yeah, it does seem like that. Only, mimics are very unstable. I tried using them once. But they don't follow orders. They forget things. They reek of cinnamon.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “I believe that taking on all those shapes makes them lose track of who or what they are. They become very unstable. They are not team players. I need team players.”

  “I was asking more about the cinnamon,” I told her.

  Ms. Elena nodded. “It's the only thing they have in common. For some reason, they secrete a chemical that makes them smell like cinnamon. I am not a fan.”

  “But cinnamon is a nice aroma!” Adra said.

  “Not to me,” Ms. Elena told her. She crossed her arms. “I assume that's why you ladies came here…to find out what I know about mimics.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’ve got to admit I was hoping for more.”

  “Well, honey, I was hoping you wouldn't smash all my defensive systems. Sometimes in life, you don't get what you hope for. I hope you have learned that now!” Elena told me.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “At least you got something out of me. The key to finding mimics," Elena said. “That's more than I got out of you!”

  “Not really. You got to see what we are really capable of, first hand,” I replied.

  Ms. Elena grinned. “Excellent point!”

  Jimmy’s mom leaned into her. “I told you what they were capable of!”

  Ms. Elena nodded. “Yes, you did, but seeing is believing, and the proof is in the pudding and all that jazz.” She turned to Adra, Aunt Mika and me. “So, are we partners now?”

  “No!” Adra said.

  “Are you daft?” Aunt Mika scoffed.

  “What have we said that could possibly make you think we want to team up with you?” I asked.

  Ms. Elena smirked. “Just had to try one more time. I am nothing if not persistent. You don’t get to be head of a big, secret, nameless organization by sitting on your hands and doing nothing.”

  “Are we free to go?” I asked.

  Ms. Elena nodded. “You’ve always been free to stay or go.” She paused for a moment and then spoke again. “Adra, do you think your parents would be interested in spending more time with my people? We could learn so much from each other.”

  “I don't normally speak for my parents but I will in this case. The answer is no. Trust me; if you approached them in the same way you did with us, they would tear the place down.”

  We turned and walked out of the room.

  “Oh, can you give Sasha a ride back to school? I'd hate for her to miss any more classes!” Ms. Elena called to us.

  “And please tell my Jimmy that we’re having fried chicken for dinner tonight!” Jimmy’s mom yelled out.

  We left. But yeah I would give Jimmy the message when I saw him. Strange lady!!!

  When we reached the car, we found Sasha waiting for us. “Did you learn what you needed to learn?” she asked.

  “I learned I can’t trust you,” I told her.

  She smirked. “Dear girl, you really should have known that before today.”

  “She’s got you there,” Adra told me.

  “Yeah, I must admit she really sucked me in,” I replied.

  Nina Note: Even though I knew I couldn’t trust Sasha or Ms. Elena very much, I believed they didn’t have any mimics working for them. They wouldn't really gain anything from lying about that. They would only risk making Adra and I really mad. After seeing what we were capable of, I highly doubted they’d want to do that.

  The trip wasn't a total loss. I enjoyed being able to cut loose with the defensive systems. Not only that, we did learn something interesting…mimics give off the smell of cinnamon. Maybe it wasn’t the most helpful clue, but a clue nonetheless.

  Of course, I also had to keep open to another possibility. Adra’s family still might be trying to set up my family by getting us on the bad side of all the other supernatural creatures around. If they wanted to be the only vampires in town, that would be a good strategy. I’m not sure why they would want that, especially since they knew there was a secret agency in town. You’d think that all the vampires and supernatural folk would work together. Though, I was starting to figure out that none of us really trusted the others too much. Sad really. But our people have always been the aggressors, the hunters, the alphas. I guess it’s hard for alphas to get along. Too bad about that. I’m a big fan of working with others instead of against them. Cooperation is how the world was built. At least that’s what my dad always says, and he’s the smartest man I know.

  Chapter 13: Settle Down Vamps

  On our way back to school, we talked about our plan. Between Adra and I, we should be able to subtly sniff out everybody around to see if they smelled like cinnamon.

  “Of course, you two do realize you're going to need more proof than simply finding someone who smells like cinnamon?” Aunt Mika said.

  “Yeah, we know,” I said, “but it’s a start.”

  “We’re good at getting people to talk,” Adra said. “At least I am. I can’t really speak for Nina.”

  “Oh, I can be good,” I told her.

  The car jolted to a stop.

  “What!” Aunt Mika yelled.

  We felt the back of the car lift up off the ground. “Oh, this can’t be good,” Sasha said.

  Looking out the back window, I saw my Grandma J. holding our car up in the air.

  “Grandma, what are you doing?” I asked.

  “Stopping you from making a mistake! Stopping you from teaming up with another vampire family!”

  Adra pushed the back door open and jumped out of the car. “No way I’m going to let this ancient lady push us around!” she shouted.

  Dropping our car to the ground, Grandma turned to Adra and scolded. “No little brat calls me old.”

  “Hey, I only have one car!” Aunt Mika scolded.

  “It’s not my problem that you’re poor!” Grandma Jasmine said.

  “It will be your problem if you wreck my car!” Aunt Mika told her.

  Sasha started laughing. “Your family is just as weird as mine.”

  “All families are weird in their own way,” I sighed. I rolled out of the car. I couldn’t have my grandma and Adra going head to head. Right now we were on the outskirts of town but we weren’t that far outside of town. If this went on for any length of time, which it could, that would be bad for everybody.

  I stood between the two of them, holding them apart with my arms extended. “Look you two, now is not the time to fight!”

  “There’s always a time to fight!” Grandma said.

  “I agree with the old hag,” Adra said.

  “Hag? How dare you! I could still be a supermodel if I wanted to be!” Grandma insisted.

  “You are way too old to even think about modeling,” Adra insisted.

  “Grandma, she has you on that one,” I said.

  “Being
old doesn’t make me a hag!” Grandma scoffed.

  I felt like I was stuck between a very stubborn rock and a very stubborn hard place.

  “Look, we’re all vampires here,” I said.

  “Actually, you’re only half,” Grandma pointed out.

  “Look, we all have vampire blood here,” I corrected.

  “Yes,” Adra agreed. “And my family has taught me not to trust other vampires.”

  “Finally…something we agree on,” Grandma said.

  “I understand not having blind trust; trust is something you earn. And that’s what we’re working towards!” I said.

  Adra calmed down and became much easier to hold back. Although Grandma continued to push forward.

  “Look Grandma, Adra and her family was attacked just like I was,” I told her.

  “How do you know that’s true? She could be setting you up. Playing you. Vampires do lie. I should know,” Grandma Jasmine said.

  “Didn’t you, yourself, tell me that you’ve dealt with the Anagals before and you had a friendly rivalry with them?” I reminded her.

  “I did,” she said. “But I still don’t think you should be running off to secret labs with one of them. Especially since I’ve heard they might be working for that lab!”

  “That information was wrong!” Adra said in a stern voice.

  “How can we be sure?” Grandma asked.

  I did my best to convince her. “Because, Grandma Jasmine, sometimes you just have to trust somebody...until they give you a reason not to trust them. And right now I think it’s much more likely that a mimic is behind this than another vampire.”

  “Or maybe another vampire family who wants us to fight?” Adra suggested.

  Grandma shook her head. “No, child. If there were yet another family in the area, I would sense them. This is either you guys or a mimic.” She relaxed some. “I hate mimics.”

  “That seems to be the one thing everybody agrees on,” I told Grandma.

  “Why were you at the humans’ high tech secret lab?” Grandma asked.

  I was shocked. “You know about that?”

  “Oh, that’s so not good,” I heard Sasha moan from inside the car.

  “Of course. Very little goes on around my family that I don’t know about. Do you need me to destroy them?” Grandma asked.

  “Chill pill, Grandma. Chill pill! Nobody needs to destroy anybody! Why do say…destroy them?” I asked.

  Grandma shrugged. “I like destroying things. At least things that I feel are a threat to my family.”

  Adra nodded. “I get that. But don’t worry, Nina’s Grandma. Nina and I showed them we are not to be messed with.”

  Grandma smiled. “Good, good. I like that.” She patted me on the shoulder. “There is some of me in you after all.”

  I gulped a bit at that. Hopefully, Grandma didn't notice.

  “Trust me, kid, that’s a good thing,” Grandma Jasmine told me. “I’ve got the inner fire you need to succeed in this world.”

  “Can I move away from you two now?” I asked.

  “You could always move away from us,” Grandma said.

  “Can I move away without you two trying to rip each other apart?” I asked.

  The pair looked at each other. They nodded.

  “What did you learn at the human lab?” Grandma asked me.

  “They don’t have any mimics working for them,” I said. “They don’t trust them.”

  “Yeah, I've only met a mimic once. He, she, or it just kept rambling on,” Grandma told us.

  Aunt Mika sighed. “When I dated George the mimic, he never could decide what he wanted to watch on TV; kept flipping through the channels. Really annoying! I dumped him even though he was a good kisser.”

  Aunt Mika had certainly had an interesting love life. I had to give her that.

  “What’s your plan then?” Grandma asked.

  “Find out if anybody in the school smells of cinnamon,” I told her.

  “I hate that smell. It’s so sweet,” Grandma said.

  “That might be why mimics use that smell. To keep vampires away,” Adra said. “I don’t like that smell either.”

  “I don't mind the smell. In fact, I like it,” I told them.

  “That’s your werehuman blood and nose,” Grandma said. “I guess there was something good about your mom marrying a weretiger, after all.”

  “Plus, my dad is brilliant!” I said.

  Grandma nodded. “And he is super rich, too. I guess your mom could have done worse. I still would have preferred her to marry Brad Pitt or…”

  “Grandma! Not the time!” I said loudly.

  “Right,” Grandma said, coming back to our conversation. “Here's a little-known fact about mimics…they can’t say the word orange.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Who knows…something about how their brains are wired!” Grandma said. She looked up at the sun. “Okay, I shouldn't be out in the sun this long. It's bad for my skin.” She looked at me. “I don't have your part human blood.” She turned to Adra. “And I don’t have your complexion.” She waved us away. “Now go to school, find a person who smells like cinnamon and can’t say orange. Then stop them!”

  Nina Note: Wow, Grandma J. easily summed up our plan of action. Not the most complicated plan, but simple plans are better…less can go wrong.

  I thought about what Grandma J. said about being a mix of vampire, weretiger, and werehuman. On one hand, it meant that I didn’t have one group that I could instantly identify with. On the other hand, it meant that I had three groups I could identify with. I liked that.

  Chapter 14: Mimics

  “So that’s your plan?” Ruby said as we met up with her in the school cafeteria. “You two are going to sniff everybody to see if they smell like cinnamon?”

  “It's not quite that simple. If they do smell like cinnamon, we’ll ask them if they can say the word orange,” I added.

  Ruby shook her head. “Certainly not the most complicated plan.”

  “We're trying to find one mimic, not land a man on Mars!" Adra said.

  Ruby nodded. “Luckily you girls are pretty, which will make it easier for you to pull it off.”

  Jimmy and Frank sat at our table eating their lunch. Of course, they were concerned about what had happened at the secret lab, and they wanted to catch the mimic. But being boys, their stomachs came first.

  “How was my mom?” Jimmy asked.

  “She was fairly calm. She also said to say hi,” I told him. “And…you’re having fried chicken for dinner.”

  Jimmy smiled. “My mom is so cool.” He looked at me and quickly added, “Except for the parts about wanting to capture you and test you. She’s just driven. That part isn’t cool. Not cool at all.”

  “Thanks, Jimmy,” I told him, patting him on the shoulder.

  “Wayne loves cinnamon,” Frank said in between bites of a hamburger.

  “Really?” I asked.

  Frank pointed to the other end of our table. Timmy, Chris, and Wayne were sitting there playing a card game. “Wayne eats a cinnamon bun for breakfast and lunch every day. He must love cinnamon. You should ask him if he knows anybody who smells like cinnamon.”

  “Dude!” Jimmy said to Frank.

  “Yeah, I have good ideas,” Frank said.

  Adra and I shared a glance. We walked slowly down to the other end of the table.

  “Whatcha guys playing?” I asked.

  “Pokémon,” Timmy answered. “It was a card game way before it was an app.”

  “Nice to know,” Adra said.

  I sent a thought to Adra. Play it cool.

  Oh, I will! she thought back.

  Adra sat down next to Wayne. She moved in close to him. “You smell like cinnamon,” she told him.

  “I like cinnamon,” he replied.

  “No, he loves cinnamon,” Chris corrected. “He’d marry cinnamon if he could,” Chris laughed, pleased with himself for making a sort of joke.

&
nbsp; “Guys, you know what?” I said with my biggest grin. “I just read online that the smarter you are...the quicker you can recognize a word being spelled to you.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true,” Timmy said thoughtfully. “I don’t think spelling and intelligence are linked.”

  “Still it would be fun to try. Don’t you think?” I said, making that last part more of an order than a question.

  “Sure!” Timmy said.

  “Test me too!” Chris said.

  “You first, Timmy,” I said, looking at him. “G R E E…”

  “Greet!” Jimmy shouted!

  “Right!” I told him even though I had been spelling the word green.

  Turning to Chris, I said, “V I O L”

  “Violent!” he shouted.

  “Sure,” I said, even though I had been spelling the word violet.

  “Now your turn Wayne…O R A N…” I paused. Chris and Timmy were squirming in their seats almost bursting, wanting to shout out the answer. “G E…” I stopped talking.

  “That’s a weird word,” Wayne said.

  “Dude, it’s orange,” Timmy said.

  “It is a common everyday word,” Chris said.

  Adra sniffed the air. “You smell like cinnamon,” she told a now defensive Wayne.

  “I like cinnamon,” he said.

  “Please say orange,” Adra told him.

  “I’d prefer not to,” Wayne said.

  “Dude, just say the word,” Timmy said.

  “Yeah,” Chris coaxed.

  “I have a speech problem,” Wayne replied.

  “Dude, you are on the debate team. You are in Glee Club. You have perfect diction,” Timmy said.

  “Just say orange, please,” I told Wayne.

  “Ah, red plus yellow,” Wayne said meekly. “Please!” he added.

  Wayne touched Adra on the hand. He blurred out of the room.

  “What the heck just happened there?” Timmy asked.

  “You two will forget you saw anything!” I ordered.

  “We will forget we saw anything,” Chris and Timmy said.

  Adra and I both streaked out of the cafeteria.