by TJ Hines
“Kinsey it’s okay. Everything is the same as before except now you know. And you know what they say about knowing…it's half the battle.” Caleb cracked up at his own joke. I smiled. He was such a dork. Caleb reached over and pulled me towards him and gave me a massive sized Caleb hug and kissed my forehead and then told me all about the last two years of his life.
He and his crew had been at Council Headquarters training to take over protection detail for me when I graduated from college or earlier if needed. He had learned so much that he felt like he had been at college too. He told me about the girls he dated and all the funny things his crew had done. Apparently, the kid named Marshall was into practical jokes and had gotten a few on Caleb. He still didn't find them that funny, but I thought it was hilarious that Marshall sewed all the legs of Caleb’s underwear together so that he would have to go commando. I could imagine Caleb standing there trying to figure out how to get the underwear on. Hilarious!
We sat there all night with his arms wrapped around me talking about the old days and things I was doing at college. All the mundane things in our life to keep me calm until I was ready to talk about everything else. He texted Jack around midnight letting him know we were good.
We pulled back in the driveway around dawn to find an angry Will pacing in front of the garage. Oh, this isn't going to end well I thought before jumping down from the truck.
“Where the hell have you been Caleb? The Princess should have been here so her Protectors could guard her. And it doesn’t bother you at all that you could’ve gotten her killed or taken,” Will yelled at Caleb. I got the feeling they had a long history with each other, and it was definitely not a good history.
“The Princess of what? I am still a little confused about some things so until things are cleared up could you refer to me as Kinsey. Please.”
Instead of answering me the boys just glowered at one another before Caleb finally broke eye contact walked over to me, picked me up and gave me one of those massive sized bear hugs that feels so good because it pops every joint in your body simultaneously, instantly relaxes you and sends you on a euphoric high. I couldn’t control the loud moan that came from my lips which didn’t help the situation. Of course, that wasn’t what caused the brawl. That started when Caleb said how much he enjoyed last night and how good I look in his shirt.
Next thing I knew Will tackled Caleb to the ground and Caleb was laughing. Laughing. It seemed that Caleb enjoyed getting punched by Will because he wasn’t fighting back. Not until Will declared that I was his. Then all hell broke loose. I’ve never seen a brawl like that. Caleb was pinned to the ground by Will but not for long because Caleb threw his body around Will and put him in a headlock. I kept screaming for them to stop but neither one of them was listening to me. Eventually, Drew, Ella, and Ensley rushed outside followed by three people I’ve never seen and bringing up the rear was Jack and Emily.
“What happened Kinsey?” Jack asked while pushing past everyone.
“I don’t know. They just started fighting. It all happened so fast.”
“I need coffee. Come on honey bear,” Ella said to Drew before heading back in.
“Stop this now,” Emily screamed at the boys on the ground. “Jack do something before they seriously hurt each other.”
“Ensley, Natalie please stop the boys from doing any more damage to each other,” Jack instructed.
Natalie, a tall girl with beautiful black braids in her hair and bright blue eyes, walked up behind Caleb laid a finger on his head and said one word: Somnum. Caleb immediately stopped fighting. Unfortunately, Will didn’t stop fighting Caleb so he got in a punch before Ensley made it to him and said the same word that Natalie had used.
“Put them in their rooms and have them sleep it off until they can act as leaders and men again and not hormonal boys,” Jack said as he gave Emily a kiss on the cheek and returned inside.
Ensley and Natalie said another word in unison, Volito, while touching the boy’s heads. Both Will and Caleb started levitating behind the pair that were headed for the house leaving me and Em outside.
“I’m sorry for all the commotion this morning,” I told Emily. “I am not sure what happened between them.”
“I’m almost sure I know what happened and it’s only going to get worse between them before it gets better.”
“What’s the deal with those two anyway? They seem to hate each other.”
“Hate is a strong word. Dislike strongly would be the more apt word to use to describe them. They are just opposites to the core but somehow best friends with the same girl,” Emily said looping her arm through mine. “I’ve missed you so much while you’ve been away.”
“What did Ensley and that other girl do to Caleb and Will?” I asked Em giving her arm a squeeze as we started walking for the house.
“They put a sleeping spell on them. It will wear off eventually but hopefully, by then they will have cooler heads and not want to tear each other’s off.”
We were almost to the house when Em spoke again. “In all that commotion, I almost forgot to tell you. Addison is awake.” I started to pull away to go check on her, but she caught my hand. “But Kinz, you need to finish talking to Jack before you check on her. There are some things he needs to tell you before you talk to her because it concerns both of you. You should also know that Addison is still pretty shook up and doesn’t know what’s going on, so we need to keep everything secret for now so that way it doesn’t hurt her recovery.”
Jack met me back in my room to discuss things further.
“How are you doing with all this?” he asked sitting on my bed next to me.
“Well, I'm not running around screaming hysterically so I think I’m dealing. As much as I can be at the moment. So are you going to finally tell me why I keep having a recurring nightmare of our parents dying…I mean your parents. Sorry,” I said.
“No Kinsey. They were your parents too; they just weren't your biological mom and dad. They raised you and thought of you as their daughter and you will always be my little sister,” Jack said before giving me a one-armed hug. “And yes, I will tell you everything I know about the plane crash.”
Jack told me that their mom made a mental call to him right before the plane went down. Strong magic users and fairy hybrids can communicate mentally, if needed. She told him that the Equitum had found them and to call the Council and have Protectors put in place. Melaine told him that they were going to do everything possible to keep the Equitum from finding him and me. She also said to keep me safe at all costs because I was the key to everything, and that she and our dad loved us both very much. That was the last thing Melaine Adams ever said. According to the FAA, the plane went down at 8:15 pm 100 miles off the coast of California in the Pacific Ocean. They managed to keep the Equitum from finding me for five years. They sacrificed themselves to keep me safe like my biological parents had done. Why was I so special?
“So, what’s with my nightmare? They seem so realistic. Can you explain that to me?”
“It’s possible you have some type of power that lets you astroproject or dreamwalk. Caleb can explain dreamwalking to you because he has that ability. I’ll have to do some more research on astroprojection. That’s not something our side can do.”
“You mean it’s a demon talent? And I can do it because I am part demon, like my mother. This just keeps getting better and better,” I said sarcastically.
“Well yes. But Kinsey, Dominique, from what I can remember, was one of the most loving and gentle souls I had ever known. She was a lot like our mom in that way. She was also fiercely protective of you.”
“Okay last question what’s up with all your eyes changing color?”
“What do you mean?”
“Last night at the party almost all the frat guys eyes changed colors out of nowhere. They turned an odd milky gray color. That was right before they started bashing Drew’s Tahoe in while I was inside of it.”
“I’ll have to talk t
o Will about that, but it sounds like they were being possessed. I know some very strong hybrids that can possess humans, but usually not that many at a time. Which is very worrisome.”
Jack went on to tell me about what everyone, including me, is technically called--Hybrids. Crosses between magic users and shapeshifters, fairies, and some low-level demons. It’s always a toss-up on what side will be dominant. Like Caleb and Emily. Emily is a magic user, specializing in healing. Caleb is a shapeshifter. But they are siblings. Jack said he was a magic user specializing in healing too which is why he and Emily went to medical school. He said he was also the leader of the Protectors over my safety. Caleb and Will led two different units assigned to my protection. Caleb had been away training with his unit since I had left for college.
Caleb’s unit consisted of Natalie, a magic-user, and Donte and Marshall, both shapeshifters. Will’s unit had Ella, a fairy hybrid, Ensley, a magic-user, and Drew, a shapeshifter. Donte and Drew were twin brothers.
“What about Will?” I asked.
“Will is special and it’s not my place to tell you about him since you two have a relationship,” Jack said.
“What? We do not have a relationship. Sure, I’d love one with him, but he never said as much to me about…” I stopped talking once I realized that Jack was referring to our friendship not romantic relationship. I was so embarrassed. I told my brother about my crush on Will. I could just jump off the roof right now. “So are we done because I would like to go check on Addison.”
“Not yet. We have to talk about school still. There is no way you are going back right now with that Tyler kid knowing who you are. It’s not safe. It’s not safe for you, Will and his crew, or Addison. I’ve got a unit going to gather yours and Addison’s belongings until the threat has passed. The council has talked to the school already. You and Addison will finish the semester online from here so we can protect you.”
“Are you serious? I have no say in any of this, do I? And what about Abby?”
“Completely serious and no you do not have a say in your safety. I take my job very seriously and I will keep you safe at all costs. And who is Abby?”
“Abby! My roommate!” I yelled a little louder than I should have. None of this was Jack’s fault but I felt frustrated because I no longer had a say in my life.
“Oh yeah. Her. I will let the unit I dispatched know to bring your roommate back here too.”
“That is not going to go over well.”
“We have ways of making people cooperate with us and if all else fails we could put her in a deep sleep for the next two months,” Jack said before walking out of my room. I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but I had to admit having her here would not be easy so maybe a deep sleep would be the best thing for all of us.
CHAPTER SIX
I knocked on the door to the guest room.
“Emily, is that you? What was all that commotion outside?” Addison asked as she was opening the door.
“Hey, chick. Glad to see you awake.”
“KINSEY!!!” Addison screamed and hugged me.
I hugged her back and then gently pried off her vice grip on me so we could talk about her staying for the rest of the semester, at least.
“How are you doing?” I asked her pulling her to sit on the bed with me. “And do you remember who hurt you?”
“I remember bits and pieces of things but I don’t remember everything that happened after I walked outside at the Delta Chi House. I do know who hurt me though, Tyler.”
Ensley saw Tyler leaving the house that he found Addison in. So, we all had assumed that Tyler was the culprit, but it was good to have verification. Plus, it would be good to know how much Addison actually remembered about last night.
“I am doing better physically, I guess. I can’t believe I slept for a whole day. Mentally I am a mess. I don’t know why he would hurt me. I’m a nobody. It makes no sense whatsoever. I have barely said two words to him since we met him at the beginning of the semester. I'm also a little fuzzy on why we came all the way to Pennsylvania to hide from Tyler when we could have called the police.”
I tried to feel in the gaps as much as possible while still trying to keep her in the dark about everything supernatural. I told her that Tyler was after me, so he decided to go after someone I care about to get to me. I also told her that Tyler was mentally unstable from what we had learned and became obsessed with me. She just happened to be friends with me, so he went after her. I apologized to her for getting her into this trouble.
“Ensley found you in an abandoned house near campus and he took such good care of you on the way here. I think he has a thing for you,” I told her watching her face turn red when I mentioned his name. Apparently, there were feelings there on both ends.
“I wish. But I still don’t understand why we didn’t just call the cops?”
“We did and they couldn't find him, so they asked if we had somewhere safe to stay while all this blew over and they found him. I immediately said here, and Will and the crew brought us up here. The cops think all my close friends could be in danger, so the university agreed to let us finish the semester online up here if you are okay with that.”
“If it’s for the best then I guess I am. I hope they catch him soon, so I won’t be too much of a bother to your family.”
“I hope they catch him soon too, but you could never be a bother to my family. It’s gonna be like a small college campus around here with all of us up here. It should be interesting and hopefully a little fun for us.”
“Yeah maybe. I should call my parents though and let them know what’s going on. Hey, what was all that commotion outside? I was kinda freaking out. I thought maybe Tyler had found us.”
“Tyler won’t find us and actually that was my best friends, Caleb and Will, beating the crap out of each other,” I said. “I can’t wait for you to finally meet Caleb and his friends. They are on fall break and they drove over here to hang out with us for a while.” I said trying to make some sense about why we currently had a house full of people staying with us. I was suddenly so exhausted with everything that had happened in the last two days. I was either getting better at lying or Addison was just as mentally exhausted as I was and didn’t pick up on the lies. I laid on her bed and told her all about the night with Caleb and the brawl this morning. We laughed and talked just like we did before our world’s got flipped upside down. I felt like as long as I kept Addison by my side, I could get through all of this because she was my little bit of normal in this crazy world right now. I just had to keep her safe and oblivious to what was going on around her.
I fell asleep in Addison’s room sometime during our conversation, but I woke up in my own bed. I had a dreamless sleep again which was nice and a little unusual because I figured after learning the truth and being back home, I would be wracked with nightmares every time I closed my eyes. But now when I fell asleep it was a black void of nothingness. Someone must have carried me while I was sleeping and that someone was probably the person currently sitting at my desk. “Will what are you doing in here? Better yet how did I get in here? And where’s Addison?”
“Calm down, Kinz. Addison is fine. She’s downstairs cooking dinner with Ensley, and I brought you in here after you passed out on her bed. And what I am doing is watching you sleep because it’s one of my favorite things to do. And I’m thinking about how much simpler our lives were three days ago.”
Will was right about the simpler part because now we had a whole lot of complicated in our lives. I decided to just jump right in and start asking Will about what his problem with Caleb was and what kind of hybrid he was since Jack wouldn’t tell me.
“So, what happened earlier between you and Caleb?” I asked sitting up in the bed.
“What do you mean?” Will asked incredulously.
“I mean why were you two beating the crap out of each other?”
“That’s a long story but it basically boils down to me not liking him taking un
necessary risks with your life.”
“How long have you two known each other? Because it seemed like you have a history. A very turbulent one at that.”
“We’ve known each other for a long time. And I don’t want to talk about Caleb. I would rather talk about us.”
“Us?”
“Yes, us. Are we okay?” Will asked as he came to sit on the bed next to me.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean I am still slightly in denial about all this, but I am trying to accept my new life. I don’t like being lied to for my whole life and I am not sure how I am going to trust any of you anymore, but I am reminding myself that for the most part, it was necessary to give me a normal life. And I appreciate getting to have one of those for as short of time as it was.”
“I understand and I am sorry that I lied to you, but I had my orders. I want you to know that everything between us has been real though. You would be the most important person in my life whether or not all this was going on.”
“So, I have a personal question for you. You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”
“Shoot,” he said.
“Don’t take this the wrong way but what are you? I mean what makes you a hybrid. I am trying to learn as much as I can so that my mind can process all this and make sense of it.”
“Oh. Well, I am a little special.”
“Jack said that, but he said I would have to ask you for specifics.”
“I’m just like you. Part demon. I’m not as high up on the demon power scale as you are. At least I don't think. I don’t know my father. He left my mother right after I was conceived so I know nothing about that side of my family. Same as you I guess except you know more than I do. I get most of my powers from that side because it’s more dominant than my mother’s magic-user side.”
