by Rose Smith
“It’s exactly the same as making someone a thief in order to feed their family, then punishing them for stealing! One thing about young people I find promising is how many young White women and men are speaking out against prejudice.
“I was just at a restaurant the other day when a group of White customers complained to the manager about how degrading it was to watch one of the waiters treat an older Black man with blatant disrespect. They even offered to pay for his meal, but as soon as the manager heard their complaints, he apologized to the man and refused to charge him.”
She’d often get standing ovations after her impassioned speeches, and while she’d thank the audience for standing, she’d encourage them to make sure to look at the person they think is different in the eyes and treat them with kindness and respect. “A standing ovation is awesome and I truly appreciate it,” she’d smile and say, but the best way you can reward me is to practice what I’ve preached.”
Chapter Three
The injured man began telling Jonah and Joseph what had happened in the forest. They sat across from him with their legs crossed and listened as he began, their big brown eyes transfixed on the stranger.
“I’d just learned to master my shifting skills to transform into a hawk. I told my brother he soon would be able to change into a magnificent hawk and fly high, like me.”
“Look at me!” I boasted to him. “I yelled down and flew circles around him on our journey to The Cave of the Ancient Rippers. We are from the Red Fire Pride of werelions. We are descendants of The Ripper Society.”
“What’s that?” Asked Jonah. “It sounds like some sort of spy mission.”
“It is a spy mission of sorts,” my young friends. The stranger with little strength smiled at the twins. “We are an order that goes back hundreds of years. We protect the realms from creatures who don’t belong here.” He was careful not to scare the young boys with talk of souless men with hearts black as coal.
As he struggled for the strength to gather his words, his mind plunged back to the consequences that occurred when Rippers failed. The last unwittingly unleashed Hitler onto the world. Everyone knew by now that men with hearts the size of Hitler’s do not deserve to walk among The Decents. He coughed, still weak. Jonah moved closer and gave him more water. His cough did not quiet for awhile, and a shiver went through him, but he soon continued.
“It is an order of ancients that go back thousands of years. Each of us have made a sacred vow to train deep inside of mouth of the Cave of the Ancients for years to become mighty and wise enough to cast out evil beings who walk the Seven Realms, typically either in human, alien or shifter form. These beings disguise themselves as to blend into society, but they mean harm to whomever they encounter. We’re sworn to protect—The Enchanted Realm, The Alien Realm, The FAE Realm, The Animal Realm, The Monster Realm, The Ghost Realm and the Earth Realm.
“We can enter The Ripper Society only by being a direct descendant of someone who became part of The Society thousands of years hence. Our mother had spent hundreds of years training me and my brother to hunt and prepare for our sacred obligation. We are the strongest of our Red Fire Pride.
“Almost two weeks ago, our mother, Mara, told both of us it was time for us to travel to The Cave of the Ancients. She told us we must train and dedicate ourselves to our mission to protect the realms. She also told us we were not to return to take our rightful places—I as leader of the clan—and my brother as my lieutenant. She told us most importantly—to look out for each other.
“My mother warned me about trotting off into unknown places in the forest, but I didn’t listen. Troy came with me to keep me safe. He traded his life to keep me from harm.
“That is why you must leave me here. I have failed before we even arrived to the cave. I’m an outcast. Please go. Leave me here to die with my brother.” He stopped talking and began to cough. His head was ablaze. He could not stop the pounding inside. He began to spasm.
The Drayton twins were unsure what to do next. Jonah spoke first. “We can’t leave him here, brother. No matter what he says, he’s not bad. If he’s what he says he is—the world needs him. And anyway, we didn’t even get a chance to tell him that his brother isn’t dead. He’s not like the ones we see in the graveyard. He’s just weak. They both need help.”
A determination came into their eyes as they stood. They connected with their mother in their minds. In just a few seconds, she stood in front of her twins with her hands on her hips and angry brows clouding her face.
“You know I’ve told you both about venturing too far out in the forest,” she scolded.
“We know, Mommy. “Joseph said we’d get into trouble, but we found these two humans—they’re hurt and they need our help.”
She looked beyond her twins and the two wounded strangers came into her view.“What happened?” She gasped.
“We don’t know. We heard one of them crying for help—that’s why we came this far. We thought one of them wasn’t moving anymore, but he still is—a little.”
“This one started to tell us what happened, but he started shaking again.” They pointed to the stranger who’d struggled to tell them what occurred. Tory walked over to the two humans, bent down, and examined their wounds.
“They have severe injuries.”
“He told us they were going to a cave of , uh, Crippers,” Joseph said, trying to recall what the stranger had told them.
“Rippers,” corrected his twin.
“The Ancient Order of the Rippers. Boys come and stand by me. We must get them help—fast.”
Chapter Four
Fawna found the cultural diversity part of her business as rewarding as growing her make up and modeling brand. She remembered speaking out against a group of bullies throwing rocks at a Black child at her school and calling him vile names when she was 10 or 11 years old. She stood with him as they both faced up to them—risking getting a rock in the face.
She was so angry at his tormenters that when she got home that day and washed her face after rinsing her tears, she could’ve sworn the face looking back at her in the bathroom mirror was an older Black girl.
She closed her eyes, shook her head and looked again. Her own face stared back. A few days later on the playground, she saw a pretty Black girl looking at her. The girl walked over to Fawna and said, “Thank you. My brother told me what you did the other day. Thanks for helping him.” Then she walked away. What baffled Fawna about the incident was the face she saw in her mirror, was that of the boy’s sister. And somehow, she could feel her. She knew even before she walked over to her, who she was and what she felt.
Whenever she spoke out against injustice, it was more than just words for her. She had a powerful voice she knew lived inside her, but deep in her heart, she knew it was much, much more.
****
Fawna was proud of the way her business had turned out—though she still missed being able to become a pilot at times. She continued looking out at the breathtaking landscape absorbed into her own little dreamworld until the pilot’s voice broke in to remind her she couldn’t remain in the cockpit.
“I’m sorry, Miss Zanobia-Walker, but I’ve got to radio in my descent into this electronic eavesdropper.”
“Please call me Fawna.”
“Ok. If they discover you’re in the co-pilot seat, it’ll be curtains for me. Please seat-belt yourself in back in the cabin. It was sure nice having you join me up here.” He smiled at her, no hint of flirt in his eyes, just a friendly smile of a happily married man.
She thought about him, his wife and two little kids he’d told her about while she chatted with him earlier. He’d even shown her pictures. Such a happy family. As she walked back to the creamy white plush designer leather chair closest to the window and sat down and clinched her seat belt parts together until she heard the click, she thought about her husband, Stephen Walker, and wondered how he smiled at women he met casually. Did he flirt, or was he like Captain Traynor?
/> She pondered their lackluster sex life. Of late it was almost non-existent. She practically had to beg him for sex. With her running her international business and him traveling the globe as President of Pace, one of the leading international limo and town car rental companies, they were lucky if they spent a week and a half a month together in their home in Lincoln Park.
On the outside looking in, people thought they were the perfect couple living in a big mansion with its expansive columns, cosmopolitan furnishings, marble floors and rooms as big as small islands. But she often felt a hole in her heart as large as that huge, rumbling mansion. How could she still be lonely on the nights the man she loved was sleeping right beside her? More and more she found herself working 16 to 18 hours a day and being lonely 24/7.
She thought maybe he was creeping on her with another woman. But she saw no signs—no lipstick on his collar—no late night phone calls—no calling out another woman’s name while they were fucking. Hell, she could barely get him to call out her name during sex.
He almost acted as if he could be eating an apple or watching television while he was screwing her—he didn’t make love to her anymore. Didn’t seem that engaged. It was a struggle for her to get him to do any foreplay. More like noplay. She made sure she put on skimpy lingerie, she even tried doing a little strip tease for him once.
He had an odd look on his face when she showcased herself to him in sexy get-ups. Hell, the night she walked the runway wearing the famous Victoria’s Secret Angel Wings, the crowd had gone wild!
One of the absolute highlights of her life was getting tips from Naomi Campbell on how to sashay down the runway. Naomi’s catwalk is utterly unbeatable.
Now the only one I want to show off my lingerie to acts as if he could care less, she heaved a heavy sigh. I don’t want a room full of strangers applauding—I just want the one man I love to think I’m sexy.
Maybe he’d been cheating on her while he was away on business. The few times she’d purposely connected with him to catch him at anything—when she would surprise him by showing up in New York or Paris when he was away on business—she saw no signs of another woman. She knew he was a workaholic. Maybe that was all it was. He gave everything to his work. She wished he had a little more left over for her.
She’d met him almost four years ago and if she was to believe in love at first sight, that’s what happened. She loved telling their story to friends and family. “He literally swept me off my feet—no really!
“When I turned around in the rental car agency to look up and feast my eyes on the 6’ 4” hunk with some of the hypnotic bluest eyes I’d ever seen and a thick, sexy-as-hell mustache staring at me—he smiled and that was it.”
She remembered the joke he’d told her when he’d admitted how he hated the Chicago weather.
“In Chicago there are four seasons,” he said. “Winter, Winter, Winter and the fourth of July.” She’d laughed.
She wasn’t exactly a ‘see-him-sex-him kind of gal’, but they made love five times that weekend. They met as she walked away after securing a rental car to drive to her hotel. She sat down in the waiting area to gather the rental papers and put them into her briefcase.
She looked up when she heard someone gasp. “Out of nowhere, this pair of big arms swept me out of my chair. I had no idea why. When I caught my breath, I looked at my seat to see large mop handle plunked down onto the back of the seat. If Stephen hadn’t been so quick with his reflexes the blunt of that mop handle would’ve probably given me a good goose egg. So you see, I’m totally not lying when I say he swept me off my feet.
The custodian went to drink from the nearby water fountain and didn’t secure the mop into the bucket firmly enough to keep it from slipping. He apologized profusely, but,” she chuckled whenever she told the story, “I think I owe him a big thank you. As soon as I looked up and saw Stephen’s gorgeous blue eyes staring back at me, I was a goner.”
Whenever she told that story and Stephen was there, he would blush, then smile down at her and kiss her cheek or the tip of her nose. People looked at them as being head over heels in love. When they first met and got married, she would have agreed.
“She says it was love at first sight,” he’d continue. “However—it took six dozen Rhapsody of Roses delivered to her hotel suite at the Waldorf to persuade her to go out with me.”
She remembered what she said after he rescued her. “Thanks for taking me out of harm’s way. I’m sure that mop would’ve smarted, I’m Fawna Zanobia,” she held out the hand she wasn’t using to hold her briefcase. He shook it.
“It was my distinct pleasure, ma’am,” When he beamed a grand piano of a smile at her, she heard her heart thumping.
“I’m Stephen Walker, may I see you to your rental? I’d like to be on the lookout for anymore mop handles that just may fall out of this chill-filled sky and hit you on the head,” he teased.
She laughed, nodded her head and followed him out of the office as he collared her carry-on bag in his hand and held the door open for her. As he waited for the driver of her vehicle to bring the car up to the entryway, they continued the conversation.
“Are you here on business?”
“Yes, I am.” She opened her purse and pulled out one of her business cards. “I own the company. I’m here speaking at the New York Woman’s Expo tomorrow.”
He whistled. “I’m impressed. Where are you staying?”
“At the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue.” The car pulled up and the driver got out, greeted them both and opened the back passenger door and grabbed her luggage from Stephen.
The driver popped open the trunk and slipped her carry-on bag inside while she pushed her briefcase in the passenger seat next to where she’d be sitting. “Thanks again, she said as she stood with the car door open. “And thanks for helping me with my things. It’s pretty cold, I’d better go.” She turned and slid into the seat while the driver got back into the driver’s seat, ready to take off once they were done.
“You have dinner plans tonight? I’d love to take you out if you’re not already busy.” He held the car door open.
“I’m sorry, I’ve already got plans,” she said, gently turning him down.
“Well, I’ll be here on business for the rest of the week. He pulled his card out of his suit pocket and handed it to her. Don’t hesitate to call me,” his smile was intoxicating.
“OK, take care.”
“Take care, nice meeting you, Ms. Zanobia.”
He closed the door to her rental and signaled the driver to take off. The driver rolled the window down and said, “Goodbye, Mr. Walker.” Stephen Walker nodded and walked back into the rental office.
“Is he a regular customer at the company?”
“He’s my boss. He owns Pace, Ms. Zanobia.”
“Wow. So how is he to work for?”
“The best. He treats us employees like gold. Even though he’s a bachelor, he’s a real family man.”
She knew Pace was one of the leading car rental companies in the world. They had offices in every airport she’d ever been in. Impressive. She thought he was gorgeous and he sounded like a real catch, but she was sure she’d never see him again. Of course she didn’t have plans for dinner, but she’d hesitated just in case he turned out to be a serial killer.
She shuddered as she thought of the Craig’s List Killer. The man was charming, handsome as all get out, and went on a seven day rampage—killing one woman and robbing another.
Being a single woman traveling alone, she held to one hard and fast rule. No going out with strange men—no matter how friggin’ gorgeous—the first time they ask.
Once she’d made it through the stand-still traffic in Manhattan, checked in and took the elevator up to her room, she entered the suite to find two dozen gorgeous red roses sitting in the center of the mahogany and glass entryway table waiting for her. The attached card read—You’re the one. Will you marry me? Stephen. The deep burgundy color roses were in a large clea
r crystal vase and looked as if they were sitting on a cloud of white baby’s breath with a big red bow—the flower shop they came from even had a name on the envelope the card was in with the moniker of the design of the flowers—Rhapsody of Roses. How romantic. She didn’t know how he’d done it—but she was impressed.
Chapter Five
“Ok, boys. I’m going to make them both little and take them to the castle so we can all help. They’re going to need some powerful magic—especially him.” She pointed her eyes onto the one the was unconscious. Tory blinked and shrunk the humans, holding them in one hand with care.
“Now, you take your brother’s hand, Jonah, and you take my hand, Joseph.”
She blinked them all back to her mom and dad’s abode.
****
Tory had they boys make a bed with soft face cloths to lie the humans on until she could make up one of the unused rooms. She wove magical spells, making brooms sweep cobwebs out corners and mops polish the floors. Fresh linens brought themselves out of the linen closet nearby and plunked themselves neatly on each bed.
She put them off the kitchen where she knew she could better keep and eye on them and she could hire a nurse for each being. She knew if they were descendants of the Ripper Order, their lives were essential to helping to keep the Seven Realms from suffering unnecessary chaos. She knew she, Simon, Charles, Sophie and Nonny must do everything within their powers combined between them to keep these men alive. She could even garner help from her oldest twin while teaching the boys a little more about magic and why it so important to use wisely.
She knew the twins had a lot to learn. Each child was different when discovering and getting comfortable with their magical powers. Similar to someone having an inborn fear of heights or a being claustrophobic. The same was true with magic, some children embraced it without fear, others had fears that needed explaining. Tory was all for it. She remembered the horrible experience her parents suffered when she almost drank blood that was poisonous to her. She’d almost died. That’s why her father was so overprotective of her and fought to keep her in Magic. Once she met Simon, who was a client of her designer extraordinaire brother, they eventually fell in love.
