by Jada Tarrant
CHAOS LEGION
RECOGNIZING THE BEAST
BY
J.E.T.
Preface
Sterling Heights, MI
February 12, 2000
Knock, knock! The hunter opened his door to find two agents sitting on his porch. They both smiled at him slyly which put him on edge.
“Is Jane here? We would like to have a word with her,” one of them said as the other guy peered into the house. A young child was staring at them with interest as her mouth was agape.
“Jane!” the hunter yelled as she came down the stairs. Her eyes seemed to lock with the men, realizing what was going on. So she went to whisper in the hunter’s ear. “Hide her,” Jane said as she pointed at her child. The hunter then decided to pick the kid up and take her into the back yard.
Once her baby was out of sight, she began to approach the agents. They were smiling, but she could tell a storm was brewing in their eyes.
“The darlings sent us since you breached their contract. You’re only allowed a three year trip then you have to return to the legion,” the first one said, explaining the rules she broke. As he continued to ramble on, the second guy was thinking about the child he just saw. “Was that kid yours?” he blurted out in mid thought. Jane blinked repeatedly trying to forget the man said that. “No,” she lied as the other guy took an interest in the topic.
“If you’ve had a dragon child here you’ll be in big trouble. Your dragon status is to be removed and so is your memory,” the first one said as he looked over to his partner. “Go get the kid.” Listening to him, he went straight to the back of the house where the child seemed to be playing with her toys. The hunter got up the second he saw the man approach.
“If you get any closer I’ll kill you. I’m a death angel you Nephilim,” the agent spat. So the hunter didn’t fight back as he turned around and headed back inside. Now the little one was left all alone with the angel just staring at him intently.
“How old are you cutie?” the angel asked as he lifted her up. She instantly put up three fingers. The man smiled as the child tugged on the cross that hung low around his neck. He felt something odd as she touched him, and it wasn’t dragon energy at all. It was death magic, the kind that him and the darklings have in common.
The other agent came to the back with her mother’s arms bound together. She cried out when she noticed her daughter was in the angel’s arms. “Do you want to take care of the mother or kill the child?” he asked. The angel looked down at the kid, because he didn’t want to kill her. But as thoughts filled his head ideas formed to keep the little one alive.
“I’ll rid of the child,” the angel said with a false smile as he carried the kid. The child looked up at him with a lost look in her eyes. She touched his face again, and he smiled as he set her down.
“You’re going to live ok?” the angel said endearingly, as he took his bracelet and slipped it onto the child’s wrist. It fastened itself to her arm. The sight fascinated her.
Soon, a scream filled the air and child seemed to know it was her mother as she began to cry. “Ssh!” the angel said, holding a finger to her mouth. “That will protect you from bad people like me, okay?” He then pointed at the bracelet.
Looking around, the angel tried to think of a place to keep the child hidden. The hunter’s truck seemed to be best fit with the cap. So he lifted her up high, lowering the truck bed to set her upon, and then he put it back up. There, he couldn’t see the child no more. She would be fine, at least that’s what he thought on his walk back.
“Disposed,” the angel said confidently to his friend. So the guy smiled as he pointed daggers at her mother. “See, you will have no memory of your old life whatsoever, and it’ll be all fraudulent memories here. You thought dragons were bad. We’re the whole package,” the agent said as he kicked at the half conscious mother. Following the man, the angel and him left.
-
Shortly after they left, the hunter came back out and lifted Jane back up to put her in bed inside. “You okay, sweetheart?” he asked as he kissed her forehead. She started to cry at the question. “Where’s Jada?” she asked. Then they both became silent as they thought, for they heard a noise coming from outside.
The hunter went to go check as it seemed to be coming from his vehicle as the whimpering began to become louder. He dropped the tailgate immediately to find that she was still alive as she ran towards him. He bear hugged her as he carried her in and at the sight of her the mother began to weep with joy.
“Oh my god,” Jane said, holding the child close. “ I was this close to losing you.” Smiling down at her, the hunter managed a smile as thoughts collected in his head. “You know when you wake up tomorrow everything will be forgotten. All your memory gone. Drew would just become a part of your imagination. Even though he is my brother,” he whispered into her ear. “It’ll be replaced with images of us, married. Even though we’re faking it right now.”
Jane understood what he meant, but surely she would remember it was her child. It just wouldn’t be considered Drew’s anymore. The thought made her frown.
“We’ll work something out I’m sure.” Jane said with a smile. “Markus.” The hunter smiled as he tugged on her lips with his own. “Lets have a normal family,” he said as she agreed.
A soon as they started to fall in love, Drew looked at them through the window. His child seemed to pay attention to him even though she didn’t know him.
“Twelve years to go,” Drew sighed, looking at the child. “Then I can help you.”
Afterwards In The Legion…
“Gage! Gage!” someone yelled as they popped out of the ground behind the big dragon. Gage turned around with a question lurking within his eyes. “What is it?” Gage asked, folding his arms. “Come see for yourself,” the man said and disappeared. Then Gage sighed, he didn’t want to be playing any games.
As he opened the door, the hairs on his arms raised with alarm. Darklings? The surprise was evident in his face as the darklings didn’t seem amused with their all business attitude.
“What do you want?” Gage asked, stiffening as one approached him. The darklings just smiled. “Nothing. The Chaos Dragon broke the deal so the powers are yours,” the darkling said. His face became sickened with disbelief by the words. “Where…?” Gage asked as he spaced off into thought. He hadn’t seen her in five years and he thought she was dead.
“Nope,” the other said, answering his thoughts. “She’s in the angelic demon quarters, if you remember what dimension that is.” What? Gage never knew that there was different human worlds separated into different dimensions depending upon what danger lurked in them. The thought of something stronger than him brought a very unsettling feeling in his gut.
While Gage was lost in thought, the darkling’s decided it was time to take action. One went to grab him as the other readied himself to slam the thing down his throat. He scowled at him as he strained at their hands.
“Protocol,” the darkling said, reaching for the jar in his jacket. It sparkled with vibrant energy. Knowing that it was Jane’s, Gage looked away as images of her fleeted through his mind. Then one of the darkling voices broke through. “Swallow it.” Behind him, the darkling jerked his head back forcing him to gasp.
“NO,” Gage muttered through closed lips. Then the darkling in front of him stomped on his foot, causing him to cry out as the mixture was dumped in. Gagging on it, he tried his best not to swallow it as he couldn’t breathe. But as it’s weight descended down his throat he gave in to it as it gave him a head rush sending him to the ground.
“Congrats,” they said, leaving him on the ground as they disappeared from the
dimensions grounds.
SECTION 1 - CHAPTER 1
Joliet, IL
August 27th, 2012
“Let’s move it, move it angel!” mom yelled down the stairs. As quickly I could, I threw all my stuff together as I struggled to throw on a hoodie. ‘Pull yourself together,’ I thought. ‘School is important.’ Brushing those thoughts aside, all I could think about was how life would change in a matter of years.
In the hallway, I didn’t even notice mom was there as we both tumbled to the sides oblivious to each other. Dad began to laugh as papers flew all over the place as she began to pick them all up.
Before I could even get to the car, Dad stopped me at the garage looking up. By the looks of it, it seemed like he had something urgent to say.
“High School is completely different hun. Stay safe since your classes are integrated with faeries and witches,” he said. ‘Oh yeah, i almost forgot,’ my thoughts echoed. The day would definitely be an interesting one.
Then getting into the car, her mother was overly excited. Slumping down into my seat, I knew my mom was going to make a big speech about adulthood. “It’ll be fun angel. You’ll finally make friends and maybe a bf or two,” she said nudged me slightly. Not wanting to elaborate on the topic, the I looked out the window. They had just arrived at the school. “But number one, make good grades!”
“Yeah I will mum,” I say as my mother pulled to the front. Quickly, I slipped the schedule out of her bag and gave her mother a quick hug. I didn’t want the woman to cause a scene in front of the school as I slipped away.
Having my schedule ready, I went up tot he helping committee. All they did was hand over a map and said to go find it. Well that was very helpful, not.
The first two classes were easy to find as they were right next to each other. Thirdly, it was biology and it was right up at the top. Then it was gym, and that was at the bottom floor. She felt invisible as she went through the classes except for the looks from the teachers. Lunch was next, and a few people sat around me. They must be freshmen as well.
“This school is huge,” the girl said, trying to make conversation . “The faeries are interesting.” As soon as she said that, they watched as they flashed in and out of the lunchroom. Some of them had wings that briefly showed for a moment, and some of the others had very vibrant eyes. It had me staring in awe as the girl smiled. “What’s your name?” Then reality came crashing down as I turned toward the student.
“Jada,” I said, shifting my attention to the person. “Yours?” The student’s eyes beamed at her as if it was something she wanted to hear. “Ashley Revere,” she said as she looked down at Jada’s schedule.
“What do you have next?”
Handing her the paper, she smiled upon seeing it. “Cool, so we’re both in mythology class. Maybe we can both find it together.”
After lunch ended, Ashley and I trotted up the main hallways. I had my head dug into the maps until Ashley tapped on me shoulder. When I looked up, a handsome young man just brushed by her shoulder. His eyes locked momentarily with mine as I gasped at the sight. It was exactly what her mom had thought.
The teacher welcomed all of them with a warm smile as they chalkboard highlighted : NORMO’S ONLY written on it. Seeing that comforted Jada that none of fae or witches were in here. I was pretty sure they didn’t want to hear what they had to say about them.
Names were written down on the desks, and I figured out she was next to some guy named Matthew Slicks. Ashley blew the man a kiss as she sat down. My cheeks had flushed red of embarrassment as Ashley continued to tease from afar. But the guy seemed amused as I could see him smiling slightly from behind her hair.
“All right folks. I’m Mr. Traffen,” the teacher said, clapping his hands. “You all might be wondering why you’re here, and it’s to prepare you for the dangers outside that door.” He pointed at the windows, making everyone look outside. “Faeries, witches, demons, angels, and the list goes on and on. This class should give you an idea on how to spot one.”
After a part of the lecture, the teacher seemed to be open to questions as a few shot their hands up. Matthew seemed to be first. “What’s faerie sight?” Matthew asked as he flipped through the book. That question seemed to get Mr. Traffen grinning. “Faerie sight is a rare sight given to humans in order to see a faerie. But at this school, faeries are required to show their faces at all times. Only thing we can’t see are their wings,” Mr. Traffen answered. Then Ashley’s hand went up. “What do their wings look like?” she asked.
“Anything really. You can look in your book to chapter seven for some examples,” Mr. Traffen said, looking a the time. “For homework and tomorrow’s lesson, I want you all to get to know the person next to you.” Dammit. Jada wasn’t prepared for that.
Matthew turns toward her, taking in every essence of my form as I squirmed in my seat. It didn’t feel comfortable as he glowered at me. He smiled, noticing the tension. “Name’s Matthew, I prefer independent projects and I’m guessing your the same?” he asked. His question seemed to answer my thoughts correctly as I made a small smile. “Yeah,” I said as I packed my bag. The bell rang, giving me an excuse to dart out of the classroom without letting him ask another question.
Looking down at her schedule, I was confused. There was a hallway where it wasn’t there on the map, and my class would be at the end of that hallway. It sounded like a good idea as I started to walk, but a tall student pushed me back into the main hallway.
“Faerie-witch zone. You don’t want to go in there. You’ll get lost,” he said, blocking my way. It was just plain rude how he spoke, but I understood the warning. “Then how am I supposed to get here?” I asked, waving my schedule in the air. He snatched it up, looking at the classroom number. “The stairs are right next to you. Take these up and go down that hallway. Another flight of stairs down and your class is to the right,” he said snotty-like. ‘Is it just me or is he being difficult?’ my thoughts rang out. But before I could say something to him he had disappeared, and the second I looked up at the clock there was only two minutes to get to class. Defeated, I followed the guys instructions to barely make it to class on time. Safety felt more important than being late.
The bell rang the second she hit the doorway as the teacher eyed her with a smile. “Got lost?” she asked. Nodding at her, I went to go take a seat as far as she could from the other people.
Halfway into class, the same guy that stopped her in the hallway stepped into the classroom. The teacher appeared to be annoyed with him. “What’s your excuse this time?” she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. The student just smiled as he noticed me staring. “Helped a few students get to their classes. I see at least one of them listened,” he said with a wink towards me. Some of the females in the class tilted their heads toward me, full of jealously. Not wanting their attention, I buried my head into the book to ignore the prying eyes.
“Hopefully you pass class this year then,” the teacher said with a smirk. Then the guy came straight to the back only to sit next to me, making me feel very uncomfortable.
“Stop looking at me,” I nearly mumbled to myself. It seemed as if he heard those words as a smirk enveloped his face. “I’m sorry, is it a crime to look at a beautiful woman?” he asked. Now that made me blush, but before he could see I looked away. Drew locked his legs with hers under the table, dragging my desk to clink with his. My heart beat double time feeling the heat inches between him. What was he doing?
“And here it comes,” he spoke gently, seconds before the teacher spoke. “I want you all to do a learning activity to get to know your partner. It’s due on Wednesday,” she said. Stiffening at the thought, I couldn’t believe it. Not another one. Drew turned completely around, staring directly into her eyes. Instantly, I became lost in the blackness that was embedded in his eyes. I’m pretty sure there was a bunch of things that I didn’t want to know about him.
When the bell rang, the guy tore out a sheet of paper from his notebook
and handed it over. The paper had his name and number on it. He seemed too odd for comfort, and I knew there was something wrong as it felt like there was something dangerous in his eyes. Faerie? Witch? Hell, I didn’t know but I was going to get to the bottom of it.
Lastly, math class had come around but all my focus on was on Drew. The mysterious aura around him made it difficult to concentrate and I was just happy it was independent study.
Once the bell rang for the last time, Ashley bumped right into me in the hallway. She smiled as I followed her to her locker. Surprising hers was right next to mine. “I think we’re meant to be,” she said and laughed. “Lockers, class, and lunch. What a combo.” I smiled, as she was the only thing that felt normal and safe at the school. Just thinking about the others freaked her out.
Noticing her scrunched up expression, Ashley spoke up. “What’s up? You look disgusted.”
“My mythology partner and English partner,” I sighed, crossing my arms thinking about them. “One’s very quiet and observant, whilst the other one is rude.”
Raising her brows, Ashley was clearly interested in who it was. “Who’s in English?” she asked as she shut her locker. Now her eyes were completely on Jada, and she knew there was no way out of it.”Drew Hayes,” Jada breathed and she smiled.
“He’s famous around here. He’s supposed to be a sophomore but he flunked English. Quite popular around the magical people too,” Ashley said as a few people looked over. They had hard blank stares as she spoke the words. It sent a shiver down my spine. “I’d feel honored. I heard he’s a handsome one.” I couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that. ‘Not as handsome as that faerie,’ Jada told herself. There was something off about Drew that seemed to get under my skin, and I didn’t want curiosity to get the best of me.
The second I walked out the building my mom was beaming as Ashley walked alongside me. My mother waved and Ashley greeted her with a smile as she walked away. Once the door was shut, it seemed like she had a mother load of questions she wanted to ask.
