by Bailey, G.
“Sorry, dad. Come on, Ana,” Raine says, using the nickname that Bethany calls me and making my heart hurt a little with the memory. She nods her head for me to follow before she starts following her dad around the cabin. I jog to catch up, feeling my feet freezing and wishing I had socks on. At least I have some socks in my suitcase, wherever that is. Shadow walks right behind me like a, well, shadow, I suppose.
We head around the cabin to a clearing which has a fountain in the middle. Two girls sit on the edge, throwing stones into the water, and I can only see the back of their hat-covered heads. Sitting next to their feet are two black cats, mirrors of each other in appearance. The cats watch me for a moment, but their eyes stray to Shadow behind me, and they slowly lower their heads. How weird. I glance back at Shadow, who only watches me, his eyes seeming like he understands my question, but he isn’t going to answer it for me. Not that he can talk anyway.
I look back at Raine and her dad as they walk up the steps of another cabin. Raine’s dad holds the door open for both Raine and me to walk in, and Shadow follows after. The inside of this cabin is just an office with filing cabinets and a desk with four chairs surrounding it, but the only thing I focus on are the two phoenixes perched on a branch of a bird holder. They are the same size as each other, both of them a mixture of yellow, red and orange feathers. Their black eyes zero in on Shadow, watching him as he comes in the room. They also bow as he sits by the door as Raine’s dad closes it shut.
“Hey, Kiwi,” Raine coos, petting the phoenix on the far right.
“Please sit down, Anastasia,” Raine’s dad says, walking around me to sit on the other side of the desk. I take one of the three seats on the other side of the desk, watching him as he picks up a piece of paper and starts reading.
“Anastasia Noble. Orphan. Middle sister of three. Eighteen years old, nineteen soon. December the 31st. What a day to have a birthday, New Years Eve,” he muses and clears his throat. “Started college but became a familiar on your first day. Studying to be a nurse.” He finally stops reading my life story and puts the paper down to look at me.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, curious how he knows my every detail.
“The police always send a detailed report on a new familiar. It is good for us to know where you are from to help us picture where you will be useful in the Familiar Empire,” he explains, resting back in his seat as he settles his arms. “My name is Hugh Roberts. I am the current leader of the Familiar Empire, and I formally welcome you home.”
“When can I go back and see my sisters?” I ask.
“Everyone always asks the same thing…at the start. You will soon realise the empire and your new life will make you happier than you ever were as a human,” he tells me, but it sounds like a rehearsed and overused speech.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I muse. I don’t get distracted by a change in conversation that easily.
“Smart girl, no I didn’t,” he says, smiling. “I didn’t answer because only you can decide your own fate. If you bond completely with your familiar by completing your training and spending at least six months giving back to the empire in your new job, then you may have your sisters come here for a weekend visit,” he tells me, and for the first time since all this happened, there is a tiny ounce of hope inside me. I can see my sisters, and that means this place is not the prison I thought it was. Though I have one issue.
“Six months?” I ask, shaking my head. “That is too long not to see them.”
“That is the rule, Anastasia. We do not have contact with our families regularly anymore. The rules are very important here and must never be broken. We live in a world where we make up less than 0.003 percent of the entire population, and everyone else just about tolerates us. We have rules, and we stick to them to make sure we can stay alive. Now, we have other more important things to discuss,” he says, his warning staying in my mind.
“That means shut up and stop asking questions, but dad is being nice,” Raine adds in, and I flash a glare at her, which is backed up by Shadow’s sudden low growl.
“It seems your familiar is protective of you already; that will be a good thing in training. What is his name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hugh asks, his eyes on Shadow.
“Shadow,” I tell him.
“Interesting,” Hugh comments, pulling his eyes from Shadow to me as I clear my throat. I’m sure I hear him mutter something about what he expected. He coughs and sits forward, pushing papers aside until he finds whatever he was looking for. “The infirmary needs a new nurse. You will be the doctors’ aid, and eventually train up from there. I know you have zero nurse training, but hands-on experience is the best way for you to learn.”
“There is a hospital here?” I ask.
“Not exactly. We have an infirmary which has three staff—both doctors and one nurse who work opposite days—and now a second nurse. We had another nurse, but unfortunately she died a few months ago,” he explains.
“What of?” I ask, wondering if we can still get sick and die like humans.
“Regrettably, my time is precious, and I have little of it today. Raine will show you to your cabin. There was a large fire about four months ago, and we have limited housing. You will have to share a cabin with like-minded familiars and their animals,” he says, flashing a look in Raine’s direction.
“Like-minded?” I ask.
“He means they all have ancient familiar animals too. You can’t live with just anyone with that wolf at your side,” Raine fills me in, but I don’t like her tone. Shadow stands up, going to growl, no doubt, but I speak first.
“That wolf has a name. It’s Shadow,” I warn her, feeling Shadow right behind my chair from the heat he gives off, and Raine grins.
“You have a little bite under all those pretty looks. We should be friends,” she says and winks at me. I have the feeling Raine doesn’t take much seriously in her life.
“Raine, take Anastasia to cabin two hundred and introduce her before coming back,” Hugh tells Raine, who slips out of the window seat and pats her shoulder. Kiwi flies to her shoulder at Raine’s silent command. “Anastasia, I will check on you in a week. Your suitcase has been sent to the cabin, along with your bag. I’m sure one of your new roommates will take you to your new job in the morning.”
“Six months, and my sisters can come here to see me? Promise?” I ask him, and he nods his head.
“Six months and a successful bond with Shadow. You have my word, Anastasia,” he replies.
“I will hold you to it,” I reply, standing up and walking around Shadow to the door, which Raine has left open.
“One more thing, Anastasia. We don’t allow familiars to leave the empire. There are strict punishments for attempting to run,” he warns me just as I get to the door. I look back, meeting his cold gaze for a moment before Shadow steps in the middle of us and blocks my gaze. He might as well just say, “Welcome to your new prison”.
Home sweet home.
“This way,” Raine says before walking past the fountain. I jog to catch up with her, seeing the space is now quiet and empty of people. We walk past two more cabins and a row of cars that are parked up. All of them are four by fours with large wheels, covered in dirt with a little mud on the windows. They are all mostly Jeeps, I think, though I’m not good with car names. Raine gets to the one near the end and opens the door. She looks at Kiwi, who rubs her face against Raine’s before spreading her wings and flying into the air. She almost looks like her wings are on fire as she flies up into the trees above, disappearing from view. I didn’t know phoenixes where even real until this point. I’d only seen one in the Harry Potter movies.
“You need to tell Shadow to go hunt and come back to you later. He will be getting hungry by now, and all familiars hunt at this time. He wouldn’t eat anything he was given yesterday when he woke up,” Raine tells me before getting into the car and shutting the door. The sound of the engine running reaches my ears a moment later. I turn and loo
k at Shadow before walking up to him and placing my hand behind his ear, rubbing gently. It’s almost soothing to be near him, like a warm mug of tea on a cold night.
“Miss Bossy Boots might be right. You should go and hunt; I will be okay for a bit. Just find me later?” I ask him, knowing he can’t exactly say yes. I don’t know why it makes me nervous to let him leave, but it does. To my surprise, Shadow lowers his head in a bowing motion before turning away and running into the forest. Why did he do that? I watch until he is out of view before getting in the car. Raine has the heat blasted on, her coat on the back of her chair, and the radio playing lightly. She reverses the car quickly as I clip my seat belt on. I rub my hands and press them in front of the heater, loving the warmth.
“How far away do we need to drive?” I ask her. I know the Familiar Empire owns land in Spain, Scotland and North America. Judging by the travel time to get here and the simple fact it’s so cold, I think this is the Scottish base. It’s supposed to be very big.
“About half an hour. This place is only for new familiars and the leaders of the empire. Which is only my dad now after the fire…” she drifts off and straightens up as she swings the car around a corner. “But don’t worry. The fire was an accident, and you are safe here.”
“How many people died?” I ask her quietly. The fire must have been how the last nurse died.
“Around a hundred. It happened at night and spread too quickly. The smoke killed most before they could even wake up,” she says sadly.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, and she nods.
“Our community is small. We don’t get new familiars as often as we used to. Dad says there is at least a ten percent decrease in new familiars,” she explains. “With not every familiar bonding well with their familiars and some dying...let’s just say we are happy to see you.”
“You can die if you don’t bond?” I ask. I didn’t know that, and it doesn’t sound good.
“Yeah, do you not know anything about being a familiar?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“No. I never considered being one as a possibility, so I didn’t research them,” I explain. I know full well I’m an idiot for that mistake now.
“Well, you are in for a surprise. Starting with the three guys you are going to be living with,” she tells me.
“Wait, what?” I ask. “Guys? Three of them?”
“They are yummy. Like seriously hot, but they don’t talk to anyone but themselves. Every familiar girl is going to be jealous of you when they find out you are going to be living with them,” she tells me. I don’t want that. I like to stay lost in the crowd, getting along without causing trouble.
“Even you?” I ask.
“I have two boyfriends; my hands are full. Literally,” she says with a teasing tone.
“Two?” I question. I’ve never met anyone with more than one boyfriend or girlfriend. That’s frowned upon in the small church oriented village I used to live in with Grandma Pops.
“Yep. Twins,” she says, winking at me, and I can’t help but laugh. “I will take you out tomorrow night to show you around and introduce you to my guys.”
“Sounds like fun,” I reply, leaning back in my seat and thinking about how I’m going to be living with three guys. I hope they clean up after themselves, because I do not want to spend the rest of my life cleaning up after three guys, no matter how attractive they are.
“It will be,” she simply says, and I know it might be a good idea to let her show me around and get introduced to people. If this community is as small as I’m getting the impression it is, I need to make friends. We don’t talk much throughout the drive, and I nearly drift off to sleep when finally, buildings come into view. There is a little town right in the middle of the woods that you don’t see because of all the trees until you come around the corner. It looks cute with its small wooden houses, stone pathways and dozens of people walking around. There are various animals around as well, making the place almost seem like a zoo.
“That’s the main town, full of shops. Dad will be sorting your bank details out and depositing money in there for your work as a nurse. The only bonus to being a small community is that anyone here will give you what you want and just get you to come back to pay for it later,” she tells me. I couldn’t imagine that. If you don’t have money out there, then you don’t get what you want. It is that simple.
“I have some money already, what I saved for living at college. I worked at a pub for a few years, cleaning dishes and glasses in the back,” I explain, and I know I have money in my purse, which is in my bag. Only problem, I have no clue where my bag is.
“You should treat yourself then. I couldn’t help but notice you don’t have a lot of winter clothes in that suitcase of yours. It is only going to get colder soon. I sense it in the air,” she tells me. I would usually be bothered by the thought of anyone going through my stuff, but I am relieved it was her and not her dad who got my underwear out.
“Thanks for the advice,” I reply. “How long have you lived here?”
“My whole life. Both my parents are familiars, so the odds of me being one were extremely high. Kiwi and my mark happened on my eighth birthday,” she explains, and I frown, peeling my eyes away from the many trees we are passing to look at her. I wasn’t sure familiars could have children, and I’ve never heard of anyone born a familiar. Though it makes a lot of sense. If you have familiar parents, there must be a higher chance you will be one. I know, in the early days, they couldn’t figure out what made the DNA change so rapidly and suddenly. I’m sure there is a lot more to it that I don’t remember from TV shows and the little my school talked of familiars though.
“Are there a lot of children here?” I ask.
“No, having a child is rare, but we live longer than humans, so plenty of time for trying,” she says, wagging her eyebrows at me, and we both laugh. I look ahead as we get to a gate which is open, and Raine slows down as she drives in. On either side of the gravel road are cabins every quarter of a mile. Each one is different in shape, some tall and a few levels, whereas others are clearly one big room.
Raine drives us right down to the end of the road, at least a mile away from the rest of the cabins. The cabin at the end is massive, a monster compared to any of the cabins I’ve seen before. It towers up into the trees in a triangle shape, with a deck leading up to the door in the middle, and its three windows show me there are three layers. The lights are on inside, and my suitcase is right outside the front door, with my bag on top.
“Welcome home,” Raine tells me as she stops the car, leaving the engine on though, so I know she isn’t coming in with me. I have to take this step alone and introduce myself to my new roommates.
“Home,” I mutter to myself, staring at the cabin and knowing it feels nothing like home. I may have whispered the word more to myself than her, but Raine catches it.
“I’ve not got any sisters or any clue what it is like out there, but this empire is a good place to be. We look after our own, we have animals for best friends, and we will look after you,” she tells me, and I look her way. I run my eyes over her hair, button face and to the mark on her hand. It’s not her fault I don’t feel at home, but I know it will take a while for me to settle.
“It’s just a lot to take in,” I find myself replying.
“I bet,” she says, and we both turn to look at the house as the door is pulled open, and the shadow of a man stands under the doorframe, holding onto the top with his muscular arms. “Now hold your head high, and don’t let them push you around. Good luck.”
Tall, dark and likely dangerous.
I say goodbye to Raine before opening the car door and jumping out. I shut the door and wave one more time before she reverses, swerves the car around and drives off. I slowly turn, crossing my arms over my chest as I walk up the steps leading to the decking. The light glows warmly from some outside lights and the windows. There is nothing but the smell of trees and a faint trace of diesel from the car. The
closer I get, the more I can see the guy in the doorway, the one I wish wasn’t still stood there staring at me. He has dark skin, black braided hair, which is short, messy almost, but it works for him. This guy reminds me of the bad guy from Black Panther. He was gorgeous, and even though he was the bad guy, I still had a crush on him. I pull my eyes from his features to his clothes, seeing he has a tight black shirt on and jeans that hang extremely low on his hips. I end up sucking in a breath as I stop right in front of him, taking in his brown eyes that are so bright and alluring.
“Who are you?” he asks, his voice deep and husky, and it throws me for a moment. I didn’t expect him to have a sexy voice to go with his appearance.
“Anastasia,” I reply after a long pause. I step back when he lowers his arms from the top of the doorframe to his sides and steps even closer to me. He steps so close that I have to arch my neck to look up at him. He is a giant.
“An-a-sta-sia,” he slowly pronounces my name, making it sound far more seductive than it is.
“And you are?” I ask.
“Alexander. Now, why are you here?” he asks. “We don’t like having guests.”
“She’s the new roommate, the one you would have heard about if you hadn’t gone for a run,” another man says, and Alexander turns aside, keeping his eyes on me as he answers.
“Roommate? Are they fucking serious, Liam?” Alexander growls out, finally pulling his eyes from me to Liam who steps forward. Liam grins at me, a playful one, as he offers me a hand to shake. I’m beyond relieved to see a friendly face here.
“Ana, nice to meet you,” he says, ignoring Alexander’s outburst, and I shake his hand, taking in his curly blond hair that looks soft, his bright green eyes and the layer of freckles on his tanned face. He has that cheeky guy grin, and there are even dimples as he smiles. Hot damn. I drop his hand and clear my throat. A cold breeze pushes my hair to the side, making me shiver.
