by Abbie Payne
She had an aversion to using potions on other people that I never could quite wrap my head around. She used potions on the boys whenever they were sick or injured, but other than that she never used a potion on anyone. I had never before her met a witchthat didn’t do that.
However, the Veritas Potion called for an ingredient that you couldn’t get except for in broad daylight– a Daylily in full bloom.
I knew I was going to have to get over my biggest fear of going out during the day buthearing Taz’s voice in the back of my mind begging me for help gave me the strength I needed to do just that.
I collected what I needed to get the Daylily before going to the front door. I cracked open the door and peeked outside. The strong smell of fresh cut grass and wildflowers filled my nose and the great ball of fire in the sky burned my eyes as if to remind me that the outside world was still dangerous even if I hadn’t been out to experience it for so many years.
I let the door swing open a little bit more and took a deep breath as a cool autumn breeze caused my hair to blow back only to fall again on top of and behind my shoulders.
I held my breath as I pushed the door open the rest of the way and held my breath as I looked around.
My heart wanted to beat out of my chest and my breathing began to quicken so much that it seemed as though it was all of a sudden running a marathon.
My brain was suddenly strangled with thoughts of all the treacherous things that could possibly happen to me if I took one more step out the door.
But like when I was younger and didn’t want to rip off the band-aid, I knew I had to.
So, I held my breath and took one step out the door and slowly took the other one, locking the front door behind me. I looked around, letting my stomach sink and release the breath.
I looked around and found myself focusing on an extensive field of lavenders and lilies. There had to be a Daylily in that field somewhere, right?
I walked out to the field and started searching for the flower I so
desperately wanted. I looked to the center of the field to see a tall lily with orange petals and yellow spines running through them.
I started to walk towards it before hearing the sound of a second set of feet crunching flowers and leaves underneath them as they walked.
I froze and I didn’t dare turn around. I let my wings show, knowing good and well that in itself was a bad idea. The characteristics of my wings were too much of a dead giveaway. And it didn’t help when I allowed myself to growl– giving away the fact that I was the rarest type of Metamorphic there was– a hybrid between a demon, angel, witch, and werewolf.
“Aw, Lycia. Don’t you remember me? I’m your father.” An eerily familiar voice pouted.
Only one group of people in the world knew what my “real” name was, and that was Lycia – in Greek mythology, an area located in the region of Anatolia, on the southern coast of Turkey - and I knew exactly who the man was that stood behind me. That man went by the name Hermes.
I wasn’t always Bali.
I was never legally Bali.
And there was a reason that the Rizos found me on the streets, even it wasn’t the reason they thought (that I was an orphan no one wanted).
I was born to parents that were involved in this group that believed that their leader, named Eugene “Hermes” Heatherton, was a god.
Hermes proclaimed that he was the Greek messenger god sent to Earth to pass on the teachings of Zeus and other mythological kings to other supernatural beings and thus teach them how to get into the Imperial Kingdom.
Hermes lead this group called Genesis and he had thousands of followers; however, whatever spell he had on the others did not work on me.
Whether this was because I was a Metamorphic, or I was just immune to his spell I didn’t know.
All I knew was that when I was nine years old I was finally able to escape the compound and it was Levi that found me one day when he was heading home from school and
convinced Hazel to take me in.
I don’t know where I would be without them and I am forever in their debt.
That was why I started working with Hazel. I used my telepathic powers and harbinger powers to tell her what was going on with Levi and Taz and in exchange she gave me a bedroom and plenty of food. I loved her like a mother, and that said a lot considering before the only mother I knew was this brainwashed woman that was convinced her husband– my
biological father – loved her even though he was never around unless it was time for her to get pregnant or she was going into labor.
I thought I had finally left Genesis and Hermes behind, but it was clear to me now that I was wrong.
Hermes reached for my shoulder and I quickly whirled around grabbed his wrist. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” I hissed through gritted teeth.
I wasn’t going to let him treat me like he always used to.
It wasn’t like before when I thought I didn’t have a choice.
Now I knew I had a choice. Hermes’s bottom lip jutted out as he made his eyes widen into innocent circles. He even made himself tear up a bit.
“Come on, Lycia. You don’t want to be mean to your father do you.” He pouted as he reached for me again.
I tried to back away from him, but he grabbed me before I could. He threw me to the ground and I let out a cry of pain as I hit the hard dirt that hadn’t seen rain in months. His mouth contorted into a smile as he removed his belt from his pants and began to beat me with it continuously until my arms were nothing but crimson red stripes and dark blue spots.
He pulled out an old polaroid camera from his pocket and began to take photographs of me lying the grass.
I didn’t have the en ergy to stop him. He reached down and grabbed me by the arms as he pulled me back to my feet.
“We’re going home.” Hermes announced decidedly before reaching for my hand.
I dug my heels into the dirt and tried to pull from his grip when I heard a loud yowl in the distance. I turned to see a man running towards the two of us.
He was tall and had fiery red hair, but there was something about him that just screamed “cat” to me.
Once he reached us, he pulled me from Hermes and shoved me out of the way before turning his rage loose on Hermes.
His nails were filed into razor-sharp claws that sank deep into his skin as he began to tussle with him, creating deep marks on his arms.
I stepped forward to help my
protector, but he turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes with a look that clearly told me to stay out of it. His eyes were nothing like I had ever seen before. They were bright greengold like that of a cat’s eyes and his pupils were long, narrow slits rather than perfect circles.
Hermes let out a sound that
resembled that of a deep-throated growl as he grabbed the man’s wrists and put all of his weight on him and caused him to fall to the ground. Hermes sat on his chest and began to slug him in the face. I stepped back fearfully. I wanted to help the redhaired man, but I didn’t want to make him angry for me stepping in to fight for him.
I was starting to realize that internal conflict wasn’t as uncommon as I always thought it was.
The redhaired man didn’t suffer for long before he got his hand free and ran his claws down the length of Hermes’s forearm.
Hermes yowled in pain and jumped off of the man as he grabbed hold of his arm. He shot him a look.
“Who do you think you are?” He raged. The red-haired man got to his feet and moved behind me before tightly wrapping an arm around my
shoulders.
Despite the blood pouring from his nose, he was obviously quite willing to fight him again if had to.
“I’m her protector.” The man
replied. His voice sounded like the deep hiss that belonged to a cat. His smell was oddly familiar, too.
“Her protector?” Hermes repeated as he stepped towards me. The man quickly pulled me closer to him. “Yes. I’m a familiar. Now, I s
uggest you get lost unless you want to feel my claws across yourthroat.” He hissed. When I heard that, I quickly realized who he was:
Cobwebs, the Rizo family’s cat.
Hermes started to talk, but quickly backed away as Cobwebs reached to swat at him.
“Fine. Fine. I’m going.” He
muttered as he turned to leave. Cobwebs narrowed his eyes at the back of his head. “I’ll give you five seconds to run as far from me as you can. If I can still see you by that point, you’d best believe you’re going to wish that you never came anywhere near me nor my people.” Cobwebs hissed.
Hermes looked over his shoulder with one last furious glare before revealing his massive white wings and taking to the skies. Cobwebs and I carefully watched him leave before I felt him spin me around to look at me more closely. He grimaced at my bruises.
“Jeez, Bali. He really laid into you, didn’t he?” He muttered as he put his hand on my cheek.
I flinched and moved away from him.
“Why did you help me?” I asked quietly as I studied his face.
His nose was still a bloody faucet, but it didn’t look like it was broken. “You’re one of my people. It’s my duty.” He replied softly. I smiled slightly at that.
“Thanks, Cobwebs.” I muttered quietly. He quickly took my hand and led the way back to the house. I
completely forgot about the Daylily as my mind became completely
consumed by other thoughts.
Why was Hermes back?
And why did he beat me just to get some pictures? I knew that he was planning
something big, but I just wasn’t sure what.
Chapter Twenty-One (Samuel)
“We realize the importance of our voices only when weare silenced.” –Malala Yousafzai
I’m no strange r to things not turning out as planned, but the fact that as soon as things
were starting to turn around
something else was piled onto this lawsuit was getting kind of ridiculous.
There have been almost sixteen girls come out and say that Taz touched them or did something inappropriate to them in the last twenty-four hours and not only that but a guy that went by the name of Hermes had jumped onto the Watcher’s side and has claimed that the Rizos kidnapped and were – once again– doing
unspeakable things to her.
He even supported his claim with “evidence” which basically consisted of three pictures of fresh bruises all over her body.
I never doubted the likelihood of me winning a trial, but right now I did. The Watchers were relentless and it was obvious they weren’t just doing this as a publicity stunt.
For whatever reason, just going after Hazel, Lincoln, and I wasn’t enough. They were having to go after our kids, too. And they wanted them to suffer.
I called Taz and Levi to my office at about ten o’clock the next morning to break the news to them.
“There have been new charges filed against you. Taz, you have been accused of assaulting sixteen girls. The both of you have been accused of kidnapping Miss Bali by a man named Hermes. Does that name sound familiar?” I asked.
Taz’s face paled at the news and he sank back in the chair with a long sigh. I saw something glisten in his eyes as Levi quickly went to hug him.
“Why me? Why are they going after me?” He mumbled as he tightly returned his older brother’s embrace.
“You’re both Legends in Rockfell, Taz. You’re both hybrids. And you’re also a Zephenrite, Taz. Those three things combined make you an easy target for free money. All Miss Lily has to do is sit there and cry and dab her tears with a tissue and she’s already won.” I replied calmly.
The term Legend was something that was coined to refer to those that were viewed as inferior to the rest of society– different or simply
“unworthy” of the title of superior – and the boys were Legends since birth just because of their bloodline.
Taz sighed as Levi continued to try to comfort him with his silent hugs. He eventually moved away from him and stared at me for a moment.
“We might as well give up, Sam,” he mumbled, “There’s nothing else we can do. Nobody is going to be on our side.”
When he said that, I got an idea. I managed to force a small smile onto my face,
“Don’t give up on me yet. If Hermes is going to play the game of
“evidence”, then I’m going to play it, too. Only I’m going to bring real evidence to the table.”
Chapter Twenty-Two (Lazarus)
“ Clearthinking requires courage rather than
intelligence.” –Thomas
H
Szasz onestly, I felt bad for leaving my brother behind as quickly as I did after Sam left saying he was going to Rockfell and would be back as soon as he could, but I just couldn’t be in the house anymore. If I did I would probably go completely insane.
I wasn’t planning on going
anywhere special anyway. I really just wanted some fresh air and to see the city some more. I didn’t think I was ever going to get tired of Crystalhills. It had its flaws, but it was still
incredibly beautiful in its own way.
I wandered into the park next to Caeruleus Incorporated and sat on a bench as I watched a group of
younger kids playing a pick-up game of football in the distance.
One of them dropped the ball and it rolled away from them, stopping at my feet.I didn’t even think about it when I picked it up and brought it back to them.
“Hey, we haven’t seen you around before. Are ya new?” One of the boys asked. He was probably around ten years old.
I nodded, “Yeah. My brother and I are visiting a family friend– Mr. Caeruleus.” I replied as I handed him their football. I wasn’t sure if I really should’ve told them that, but it was too late now.
The boys perked up at the mention of Sam. “We love Sam! He comes and helps out at our orphanage all the time.” The ten-year-old stated
brightly.
I grinned slightly at that.
To think that Sam had a big enough heart to help out a bunch of kids that pretty much didn’t have anyone warmed my heart a little.
“Say, Mister. If you have time to spare, do you wanna play some football with us?” Another boy asked.
I hesitated, but then grinned. I left to blow off steam, right? And plus, it had been so long since I had played football that it definitely wouldn’t hurt to play again. So, I dived right into the game.
We played a couple rounds before I looked up to the sound of a chiming bell. The group of boys sighed as they recollected themselves and took their football from me.
“We’ve got to go.That’s the lunch bell.” The ten-year-old sighed. I nodded slightly, “Alright, well, it was nice getting to know you guys.” I replied before going on my own way and going back home.
The first thing I saw when I got back to the skyscraper-mansion-thing was Levi pacing impatiently in the foyer. He turned when he heard the door open and almost went into a state of complete panic.
“What happened?” He demanded as he put his hands on my shoulders and studied me closely.
Sweat was dripping from my
forehead and my hair was plastered down. I was having a hard time catching my breath, too, for some reason.
I shook my head and pushed him off of me. “Nothing happened. I was playing football in the park with a group of boys from that orphanage down the street.” I replied coolly.
Levi watched me for a minute before chuckling warmly and shaking his head, “You know, I wondered how long it would be before you touched another football.”
Chapter Twenty-Three (Samuel)
“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” –Amelia
W
Earhart hen my flight touched down at the Rockfell airport, it was about
eight o’clock in the morning and the court wasn’t allowing me to view Daisy and Sylas Watcher’s apartment until nine. So, I decided that instead of was
ting my time I was going to do something I promised myself I would do anyway: go and check in on Bali and Hazel.
I knew Hazel would be livid if she found out I was in Rockfell and I didn’t go see her – or at least, tell her I was there – and I didn’t wish to be turned into a frog any time soon.
That just didn’t sound pleasant to me, especially considering that frog legs just so happened to be one of Hazel’s favorite ingredients when she made potions.
My driver was understandably hesitant to take me back to her house. The only time he had ever met her was last time when I took her boys away. If one didn’t know Hazel, her hostility on that day in particular was enough to drive even the bravest of men away. However, I pressed the matter until it got to the point I had to threaten tofire him if he didn’t take me.
I didn’t normally like to threaten to fire people. Firing people wasn’t my thing, but sometimes if the person got aggravating enough I found the courage to do so.
I quietly watched my bodyguard go to open the door and escort me out, but I quickly protested, “Stay in the car, Frederick. I wish to do this by myself.” I was surprised that he was so nervous. Sure, the driver was nothing new, but Frederick was known for being calm in the face of danger and now he had me wondering just how badly Hazel scared them.
Frederick’s eyes shined with
complete terror as he slowly
processed the words that had just come out of my mouth. “But, sir…” He muttered under his breath, though he quickly concealed his doubtful comment with a nod.
I rolled my eyes and turned to push open the door before climbing out and heading straight for the Rizo’s house. I was finally able to get a good look at it.
It was an old colonial style house that was covered in chipping white paint despite the obvious work that had been put in keeping the place in pristine condition. There were wild flowers everywhere and I couldn’t help by smile at the fruit tree orchards and flower gardens that Hazel had obviously planted many moons ago.
Sybil used to garden all the time, so it meant a lot that Hazel was feeling better enough to actually try
