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Author's Note: This is a rewrite of the original Raven's Blood, and I have removed the old version form the site. There will be some distinct differences from the unfinished original, including this prologue which never existed in the previous version, and I feel helps with the story progression. ~Amethyst.
 

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Prologue

Eleven years ago

“Raven! Run!” Lilly shouted at me as the terrifying creature approached us. It was much bigger than any of the men that I had met in the neighborhood, but its appearance was far more frightening than its size: its skin was dark purple, almost black, and reminded me of a dragon I had seen in a storybook once with its scales. Its eyes were a frightening red and the creature was hunched over, as if the weight of the large bat-like wings on its back and the spiraling pair of horns on its head were too much for it. It lumbered forward slowly, serpentine tail dragging behind it, while its gaze locked on me.

It had been a man when we had first noticed it walking up the beach behind the houses of my distant neighbors toward where Lilly and I had been playing on the shoreline. We usually stuck to my backyard, but I had thought that I had seen a harbor seal and wanted a closer look. Now we were well past the graying old fence that framed my backyard, and that man had become something else entirely. I stood frozen in fear, my world seemingly caught in slow motion as a smile curled upward on that hideous face to reveal the creature’s fangs.

At first, it didn’t say a word as it came closer. It was as if words were unnecessary, and its mere presence was enough to terrify. It was only a few steps away when it stopped to smell the air and its smile grew briefly before it spoke. Its voice was something like a growl and hiss combined as it said, “Yessss, you are the one.” Then it moved forward again, the black claws on its fingertips reaching for me.

“Raven!” Lilly shouted again, but I couldn’t seem to move. Suddenly my friend was between me and the creature, pulling something from the backpack she carried whenever she came over to play. It looked like a spray can, and she released the contents into the creature’s face, causing it to hiss and scream in pain. “You can’t have her!” she shouted, before taking my hand and half dragging me back along the beach toward my backyard. She didn’t stop until we were inside the house.

What happened after that was a bit of a blur. Lilly must have gone home because I couldn’t see her anywhere as my nanny, Lydia, held me close and promised me that everything would be alright. I wasn’t so sure about that though; I was confused by what had happened and scared so badly I was shaking. It felt as if just by seeing that thing my whole world was different, more terrifying.

Lydia just kept holding me close, promising that everything would be okay and that she would never let anything hurt me. After a time, she let me go to have a brief hushed conversation on the phone, made me some hot cocoa with tiny colored marshmallows in it, and then sat with me there in the kitchen until the doorbell rang. “I need to go and talk to some people, Sweetie. I won’t be long,” she told me with a concerned look as she stood up and left the kitchen.

Since there was no door separating the kitchen from the living room, I could hear Lydia opening the front door as I sat there tightly clutching my mug of cocoa. Her voice sounded surprised as I heard her say, “Chief Little, you didn’t need to come in person.”

“Nonsense,” a deep masculine voice said in response, “I need to get out of that office sometimes. Besides, Raven is Nick and Siv’s girl. After what they did for us, the least I could do is come in person to make sure that the area is secure.”

“Thank you,” I heard my nanny reply.

The man with the deep voice spoke again. “Of course, you know the MacArthurs and their teammates; Neera and Thom. How is Raven? We could move the two of you to a safe house if you think there’s a need.”

Lydia’s voice sounded worried as she answered the first question. “She’s scared and confused, but that’s to be expected. I assure you though, for Raven, there is no house safer than this. Siv saw to that.”

“She wouldn’t have left anything to chance,” the man agreed. “So, what happened? Was it one of Baerahn’s Demons?”

Someone made a shushing sound then. “Of course, it was one of Baerahn’s,” Lydia replied in a hushed voice, sounding disgusted. As she continued speaking to answer the other question though, I could hear her sigh, and her voice turned sad. “I wasn’t careful enough. I thought that these play dates with ‘Lilly’ would be good for Raven, but maybe I was just being selfish. I got caught up in the moment and we wandered too far, it was stupid. If that bastard had managed to actually touch her, the seal would have broken for sure. I promised Nick and Siv that I would keep her safe; and let her live a normal life until she was older.”

“You can still keep that promise,” Mr. Little said quietly. “Lila will go and talk to her while the others get to work.”

Another man’s voice asked, “Could you show us where it happened while Lila talks to her? We’d like to start hunting the Demon down quickly if it hasn’t already returned to the Infernal Plane to lick its wounds. We’ll want to make sure that none of the normies saw anything too.”

There were sounds of movement then, and I heard footsteps approaching, but I could only stare blankly into my cocoa until I heard a voice. It was soft, soothing, and musical as it said, ~Hello Raven, my name is Lila. Would you like to talk about what happened? I’m sure that you have some questions.~ I couldn’t help but look up at the sound of it and saw a beautiful woman with long bright pink hair who was wearing a blue sundress with white flowers on it.

I didn’t reply; I was still trying to shake off the mind-numbing fear from my encounter. At the moment that, and staring at the woman, seemed to be all that I was capable of doing. It didn’t stop her from speaking again though. ~You can trust me, Raven. Lydia wouldn’t let me talk to you if she didn’t trust me. Your parents were good friends of mine; my husband and I worked with them sometimes, and I was there when you were born. I have a daughter around your age too, her name is Alice.~

She made no move to come any closer than the kitchen entrance, keeping a cautious distance for the moment. Her words, that musical voice of hers, or possibly the combination of both managed to dull the overwhelming fear I had been feeling since I first saw the creature on the beach. Finally, I managed to ask uncertainly, “W-was it real?”

The woman nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving my face. ~Yes, it was. There are some terrible things out there, but there are many beautiful, wonderful things too. I’m sure that you’ll see them all someday. We help to protect people from bad creatures like the one you saw, and so did your parents. They were wonderful people, you should be very proud of them.~ She smiled sadly as she moved a bit closer to the table where I sat.

I stared at her as she spoke, only half paying attention to what she said now. There was something weird about her beyond the strange voice, bright hair, and purple eyes, but my traumatized seven-year-old mind was having trouble figuring it out. It was something about the way she spoke, not the musical sound, but something else. She was talking to me, but her lips weren’t moving, it was like her mouth wasn’t making the words. Once I figured that out, I came to the only conclusion that made any sense to me. She wasn’t a normal person; she was one of them, something like the creature from earlier. She was after me too.

The fear surged in me and I could feel the rapid thumping of my heart in my chest as I jumped out of my chair and ran for the back door. I was halfway there when I heard the most beautiful voice I had ever heard singing. There were no words, only a soft languid melody that ensnared my fast-beating heart. ~Relax, Raven,~ Lila MacArthur commanded in that strange voice of hers, and I fell to the floor as my body went limp.

She came over and scooped me up in her arms. As she picked me up I realized that the beautiful voice was coming from her, her mouth moving in time with the melody. ~I’m sorry, Raven,~ her voice spoke in my mind as her mouth kept singing that wordless melody, ~I didn’t want to have to use my true voice, but you left me no choice. You could have been in danger if you ran off before we’re certain that the Demon is gone.~

She carried me through the kitchen and living room and then up the stairs to my bedroom, where she placed me gently on my bed. ~I am sorry for this, little one,~ she told me as she continued to sing and brushed a stray lock of my black hair from my face. ~I had hoped that you would be able to handle learning the truth, but you are still too young and too full of fear to accept the world as it is. Lydia will keep you safe and if you ever need us, we will come running, but it is best for now that you don’t know about who and what you truly are. You will sleep now, and when you wake you won’t remember me, the Demon, or anything that happened since you went outside to play with Lilly.~

I didn’t believe that I could ever forget about anything that happened, but her voice seemed to insist otherwise as she sang to me and placed Sunny, my yellow stuffed rabbit, in my arms. ~You are already beginning to forget Raven. You are so very sleepy.~ My eyes did feel very heavy and as they began to close, I wondered who the woman sitting on my bed was, it was such a beautiful lullaby she was singing. As sleep reached out to claim me, I thought I heard a voice whisper, ~Have happy dreams, Raven, perhaps you’ll dream of Valkyries or Mermaids.~

 

 

 

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Author's Note: This is a rewrite of the original Raven's Blood, and I have removed the old version form the site. There will be some distinct differences from the unfinished original, including this prologue which never existed in the previous version. If you haven't read that yet, it's not a must-read, but it will help with getting a feel for things Raven doesn't know or suspect. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest

Sunday, August 31st (Present Day)

“I guess it’s time to go,” I said quietly to myself as I stared at the two suitcases on my bed and took one last look at my bedroom. The old brass-framed queen-sized bed I had slept in for as long as I could remember dominated most of the small room. It was currently covered with one of the cozy patchwork comforters that Lydia had made for me. Sunny, the faded yellow stuffed rabbit that I had had since I was four, stood guard on the pillow until I was ready to return home.

Like the house itself, my bedroom wasn’t large, which was why the bed took up so much space, but it was comfortable, and the space was well organized. Beside the bed, there was a weathered nightstand with a lamp and my alarm clock. A worn oak dresser, containing some of the clothes that I wouldn’t be taking with me, stood beside the window.

More clothes hung in the small closet beside the bathroom door, and an old, padded office chair sat in front of the desk where I had done my schoolwork for as long as I could remember. Other than that, there wasn’t much in the room but a few personal items: trinkets that I had managed to collect throughout my childhood sitting on the dresser, my electric guitar and amplifier beside the desk, and posters of some of my favorite punk bands on the walls. Each item bore bittersweet memories of my life until now.

We never had a lot of luxuries when I was a kid, but we had always had enough. Lydia had always made sure of that by carefully managing the money from my parents’ life insurance policies. She had managed it well enough to pay off my parents’ small and ageing house, and now that I was eighteen and could access the trust fund that my mother had left for me, I would be able to go to university without having to get student loans. It was an opportunity that I didn’t plan to pass up.

As much as I wanted to leave, though, as much as I needed space, I could feel tears coming to my eyes. This home that I had grown up in was all that I knew, and, as much as I was trying to act as if I were ready for this, I couldn’t help but feel some uncertainty and fear of the unknown. I tried to comfort myself with the thought that I was only going to be a short drive away, just far enough to give me some space and let me live the life of a normal university student in the dorms at UBC. I let out a sigh and reached for the suitcases as I murmured, “I’m going to miss this place.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Lydia said from the entrance to the room. “You could take your classes online from home.”

“Just like I did with elementary school and high school? The only time I got to interact with people as a child was when we went shopping. Even my music and yoga lessons were done here with a private teacher,” I retorted as I turned to face the grey-haired and slightly overweight woman.

Technically, Lydia was my nanny when I was little, but she raised me alone since my parents died when I was barely a year old. She was the closest thing to family or a real friend that I had, except for Lilly, her niece and my childhood playmate, but Lilly had moved away when I was seven. I knew that my leaving was hurting Lydia, but I needed this.

“Yes,” was her soft reply, her tone pleading. “Stay here with me, where you will be safe.”

I rolled my eyes and then shook my head as I told her, “You’re doing it again. See, this is exactly why I need to leave. Ever since I was a baby, you’ve been going on and on about keeping me safe, and it’s suffocating me. The world isn’t as dangerous as you seem to think it is. You’re so paranoid about keeping me alive that you’re preventing me from living! I just want a normal life!” I was beginning to shout now, so I took a deep breath to calm myself before I continued speaking. “I want to know what it’s like to go to school, to have friends, and maybe even a boyfriend.”

Lydia looked as if I had slapped her, so hurt she appeared to be from my words. “I never prevented you from making friends, Raven. I gave you as much freedom as I could without sacrificing your safety.”

“You were always watching anyone I got close to, I wasn’t allowed to get a job, my phone has a GPS locator, and whenever I met other kids, you were so intrusive that it scared them off!” I grabbed my two suitcases, gripping the handles tightly enough to cause the leather to make an audible creak in complaint. “I’m going, Lydia; I’ll call when I’m settled in.” With that, I made my way out of my bedroom and stormed out of the house and into the garage.

Lydia followed me out, but she didn’t say another word as I placed both my suitcases in the trunk of my car. The black 1992 Corvette convertible had been my mother’s car, and Lydia only drove my dad’s old (and more practical) green Jeep Cherokee over the years. She probably could have sold one or both of the vehicles, but we had enough money to get by, so Lydia decided that it would be my decision to make when I was old enough and had made sure that both vehicles stayed in good condition for when I was ready to drive. The Corvette even shone from a recent wash and wax, and I recently got new plates and insurance for it in preparation for my time at school.

I wished that I could drive with the top down to celebrate my new freedom, but autumn in Vancouver means rain, and I could hear that it was coming down in sheets outside. I put my suitcases in the trunk, opened the garage door, and climbed into the driver’s seat without another word to the woman who had raised me. As I drove down the driveway and turned onto the street, I tried not to look in the rearview mirror, but a brief glimpse showed Lydia standing in the rain as she watched me leave.

It took me a while to find Totem Park, the co-ed residential area that I would be staying in, and even longer to find my assigned parking space and then my actual residence, Haida House. It was almost eleven o’clock and it was still raining hard when I entered the residence, picked up my room key and welcome package from the front desk, and then found my room. The room I would be sharing on the third floor wasn’t very big, barely large enough to fit two people comfortably, and was divided in half with each side having a bed, desk, dresser, wardrobe, and closet. I didn’t see any suitcases or personal items, so I could only assume that my roommate hadn’t arrived yet.

With a shrug, I placed my bags on the bed on the right side of the room and, after removing my soaked UBC hoodie and brushing my long, now wet, black hair out of my eyes, I began to unpack. My clothes went to the dresser and closet, my toiletries, makeup, and purse took their places on top of the dresser, and on my desk went a framed picture of me with my parents. It was one of the few such photos I had.

The photo was taken at home in the living room and showed my mother cradling me in her arms as my father sat beside her with his arm around her. They both looked so happy, and tears came to my eyes as I once again wondered what they were like and what things would have been like if they were still alive. Lydia always told me that they were two of the strongest, bravest, and kindest people that she had ever had the pleasure of knowing. But that was all I had to know my parents by; Lydia’s second-hand memories and a photograph. I suppose you could say I had their looks as well, but that was a small consolation.

My mother had been Scandinavian and had light blonde hair, pale skin, and strong but attractive features. She looked to have been in good shape, and in the photo, she had the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. My father had been attractive with a square jaw, he seemed muscular without being overly so, and he had jet-black hair and hazel eyes that almost seemed amber. I took mostly after my mother, having similar facial features, skin tone, a slender but well-curved body, and her eyes. I didn’t know how tall my mother was, but I imagined that she was tall like me as well, and I was tall for a girl at five feet and eleven inches. My hair, though, was the same obsidian shade as my father’s.

I sat there at my desk for a long time, just looking at that photo, until I heard the door to the room open and close behind me. I turned to see a slim girl who was a good head shorter than me with shoulder-length wavy brown hair at the door wearing a wet black windbreaker. She put down her bags and removed the windbreaker, under which she was wearing a mint green midriff-baring halter top and tight jeans. She took a quick look around the room, and as soon as she saw me, she smiled. “Hi, I’m Jamie Harris; it looks like we’ll be roomies.”

“Raven Demarco,” I replied as I placed the picture back on my desk, “it’s nice to meet you, Jamie.”

Jamie took her bags to her side of the room and started to quietly unpack. The silence didn’t last long, though, and I thought that Jamie was probably the talkative type as she asked, “Where are you from, Raven? What’s your major? I’m majoring in Psychology, and I’m so excited to be here in Vancouver. Fort St. John is such a small town, and I’ve always wanted to know what living in a big city is like.”

“I haven’t really chosen a major yet,” I admitted shyly before adding, “I grew up here in Vancouver.”

She completely ignored my lack of a major and jumped on my other admission. “That’s awesome! You can show me the sights and all the good clubs and stuff!”

I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “I don’t really know many of the good sights to see. I lived a kind of sheltered childhood, I was homeschooled and such. I’d love to check out some of the sights with you, though, once we’re settled in.”

“Overprotective parents?” the other girl asked as she abandoned packing to pull her chair from her desk to sit closer to me. Nodding to the picture on my desk, she inquired, “Is that them? I can see where you get your looks.”

“I guess you could say that,” I replied as I thought of Lydia, and then I sighed as I looked at the photo again. “Yeah, those were my parents, but they died when I was a baby. I was raised by my… nanny.” Lydia claimed to be more than that, but it was probably the best way to explain Lydia’s role in my life.

A sad look passed over Jamie’s features. “I’m so sorry. That must suck never knowing your parents. Your nanny must have really cared for you to raise you after your parents died.”

“I guess so, but she can be a pain at times,” I admitted. “She raised me, and she’s the closest thing I have to family, but she’s way too overprotective. I just want to live a normal life, that’s why I’m living in the dorms instead of at home.”

The other girl shook her head. “Trust me, normal is overrated. I came here to get away from a so-called normal life and make something of myself. My parents own a gas station and wanted me to work for them, find a boy to marry, and take the business over someday. I don’t want that boring small-town life, I want some excitement and to be something more than a glorified gas jockey.”

I nodded at that. “It sounds like you were as trapped as I was. I want to live, and a bit of excitement once in a while makes life worth living.” I looked at the welcome package on my desk and turned back to her. “Our floor doesn’t have to be at the dining hall for dinner until five-thirty. What do you say we go off campus to get some lunch, get to know one another better, and see the sights once you’re done unpacking?”

She responded with a grin as she said, “Screw unpacking! I can do it later, let’s go. Do you have a car? I don’t, so we may have to use public transit.” She took a jacket from her suitcase as she waited for my reply.

“Don’t worry, I have a car,” I answered with a grin as I picked a light jacket from my closet and put it on before grabbing my purse and shoving my keys inside.

We were both pretty hungry, so we stopped for lunch at a café with an outside patio not too far from campus. The air still had that strong ocean smell that always seemed to accompany heavy rains, but at least the rain had stopped. Since the sky was starting to clear up, and it was warm for early autumn, we sat outside to eat. The Caesar salad with grilled chicken that I ordered was pretty good and very filling, and I sat back contentedly eating it and sipping at my orange juice while Jamie and I talked. Some of the more adventurous pigeons and a couple of seagulls watched us expectantly, seemingly waiting for any crumbs that Jamie might lose from her chicken sandwich, and one, in particular, seemed to be watching us intently.

As we talked, we were getting to know each other better, and I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have very many similar interests. For one thing, Jamie liked to party and was much more social and outgoing than I thought I would ever be. The way we got along, though, made me think that we would at least be good roommates even if we didn’t end up best friends like I had been half-hoping.

After lunch, we made our way towards downtown Vancouver. We spent over an hour walking along Granville Street and checking out the stores and the various street performers. When we were tired of that, we made our way down to the waterfront to see Canada Place and then Harbour Centre. On impulse, I convinced Jamie that we should take the glass elevator on the outside of the building to the top of the Vancouver Lookout Tower. I was pressed up against the glass, watching the people and cars beneath us get smaller and smaller, when Jamie asked, “How can you do that?”

I took my eyes off the view for a moment to regard my roommate. “Do what?” I asked her, a bit confused.

“Stand so close to the glass and look down like that. I get vertigo just thinking about it,” she replied with a slight shiver.

I shrugged as I looked down at the world beneath us once more. “I don’t know, I guess that heights don’t seem to bother me, though I haven’t really been to a lot of high places.” Soon, we had reached the lookout at the top of the fifty-story tower. The view was amazing, and I looked around in wonder at the views of the Northshore Mountains, English Bay, and all of Vancouver stretched out before me. I moved from spot to spot, spanning all 360 degrees of the lookout, drinking it all in. I didn’t want to miss a single bit of it.

Jamie seemed to find my excitement very amusing. “Which one of us is new to Vancouver again? I have to admit it is one hell of a view though, just so long as I don’t look down.”

“Sorry,” I said with a blush. “As I said before, I lived a very sheltered life.”

“Don’t apologize for enjoying this, I am too, it’s awesome to see all of this on my first day here. It’s insane how big this city is, I’m glad we came up here to see it. Besides, if I were in your place, I’d probably react the same way. I’m seeing a new city for the first time, but this is your first time really seeing your home laid out like this.” She shook her head as a seagull flew by the window. “I can’t believe how many pigeons and seagulls we’ve seen today, it must have been thousands. They’re all starting to look alike; I could swear that one that flew past just now has been following us all afternoon.”

“Maybe it likes us,” I responded with a laugh. “Seriously, though, there are a lot of them in Vancouver. It’s a big city with millions of people if you count all of the outlying connected cities like Burnaby and New Westminster, and Lydia told me that with that many people, you get a lot of garbage or other possible food sources for the birds and other pests. They constantly get into garbage and places they shouldn’t.”

“We get crows and migratory birds at home, but I think I’ve seen more seagulls and pigeons alone this afternoon than I saw birds at home all summer,” she replied as we walked back to the elevator. “The crows get into garbage, but I can’t imagine ever having this many around.”

“You’ll get used to it; they’re probably all over the campus too.” I glanced at my watch as we stepped back into the elevator. “Speaking of which, we should get back there if we want to be on time for dinner.”

Traffic was light on the way back to campus, and we made it back to Totem Park with twenty minutes to spare. Jamie went back to unpacking once we returned, while I sat on my bed. “So,” she said as she was placing things in her dresser, “you said you haven’t decided on a major yet, Raven?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m hoping this semester I’ll find something that sparks an interest.”

She nodded as she folded a pair of jeans and put them away. “I’ve heard that a lot of first-years do that. What courses did you choose this semester?”

I went over to my desk to get my course schedule and looked over it before answering. “I have Introduction to Anthropology, Introduction to Modern Biology, Introduction to the Theory of Music, Calculus, and Vikings and Norse Mythology.”

“That’s a pretty broad spectrum; I was considering taking some of those. What field of study is the mythology course in? History? Literature?”

“It’s in Scandinavian Studies,” I replied. “I was thinking of taking that or music as my minor. My mom was Scandinavian, and I’d like to learn more about her culture. I figured that mythology would be a fun place to start.”

“Cool, let me know if it’s interesting, I’m still trying to figure out a minor.” She checked her watch and grinned at me, “Looks like it's dinner time for our floor, roomie, let’s head down to the dining room and meet the others.”

“Sounds good to me.” I took my purse and we both headed out the door and down to the dorm dining hall. With it being our first day in residence, we were supposed to be using dinner as a chance to meet some of the other girls on our floor. Later, at eight o’clock, there was to be a floor meeting with the same purpose, where we could get to know more about dorm life and ask any questions we might have.

Once we made it to Coquihalla Commonsblock, which housed the dining hall, Jamie and I made our way through the line to order our meals. The special for the evening was beef stroganoff with a side salad, and it sounded as good as anything else, so I ordered that and a Diet Coke. With trays in hand, Jamie and I found a table with two empty spaces. Jamie immediately smiled at the four girls already seated and asked, “Are these seats taken?”

One of the girls, a very pretty redhead, smiled back and gestured for us to sit. “They are now. I’m Kendra, this is my roomie Asako, and these two are Jennifer and Erin.” A quick flick of her finger was made in the direction of each girl as she spoke their names.

“I’m Raven, and this is Jamie,” I offered as we sat down. Once we were seated, the talking began as we all tried to get to know one another. Kendra McAllister was even taller than I was and seemed to be in very good shape. She was attending UBC on a volleyball scholarship and planned on majoring in History. When she had been offered the scholarship, she had jumped at the chance to leave her small town of Cache Creek behind and try to make something of herself. She and Jamie seemed to become fast friends as we spoke.

Asako Sato was possibly the most good-natured person I had ever met. That small girl wore a constant smile beneath her glasses and wanted to work with children someday, so she was taking Early Childhood Education as her major. With her innate friendliness and her funny stories, I thought she would be very good at her future chosen profession. Her parents were Japanese, but like me, she grew up in Vancouver and wanted to be on campus and away from her parents while she pursued her studies.

Jennifer Howe preferred to be called Jenn. She came to UBC from a small farming community in Manitoba to attend the Nursing program. She was not much taller than Asako, with shoulder-length ash-blonde hair; she wore a loose-fitting UBC sweatshirt and seemed a bit self-conscious. She was constantly tugging at her sweatshirt and didn’t say much. I found out later that she had been bullied horribly by some of the other girls in her community about her looks and her weight, though I didn’t see a problem with either; she was very pretty, and I figured that those girls were just jealous.

Erin Ross was a Native and wore her long, dark hair in a French braid. She was from Haida Gwaii and was planning on majoring in Computer Science, with a minor in Environmental Science. Other than me and Jenn, she seemed to be the most reserved of the group. She seemed to take to me pretty quickly, though, and she seemed to find something humorous about me for some reason. She would look at me occasionally and giggle.

It was when we were all relaxing in the third-floor lounge as we waited for the floor meeting to start that I caught Erin doing it again. I turned to her and gave her a stern look, “Okay, Erin, spill it. Just what is it about me that you find so funny?” I could feel butterflies whipping up a whirlwind inside my chest as I worried that I had made some major social blunder and nobody was telling me.

She seemed to sense my concern and took my hand to squeeze it reassuringly. “Sorry, Raven, it’s nothing you did; I’m just trying to picture you as Raven.”

“But I am Raven, how could you not picture me as me? Do I remind you of somebody else?”

That just made her giggle again as she gave my hand another squeeze. “No, I’m trying to picture you as Raven. In the stories of my people, Raven is one of our central Gods. He created Haida Gwaii; disguised himself to enter the house of the Sky Chief, and stole the sun, moon, and stars to give to humankind; and there are various stories about how he brought humans into existence. He’s usually seen as a trickster, but everyone sees him differently. I’ve always thought that it’s like there’s some reflection of the true self of the person seeing him. Some see him as a magician with the power to create and transform and as a teacher for our people, while others see him as the greediest, most lecherous, and most mischievous creature in existence. I guess you could say that I’m trying not only to see him in you but part of myself as well.”

Jamie broke out laughing once the explanation was made. “Oh, that is funny. I haven’t known her that long, but I really don’t see our Raven as greedy, lecherous, or mischievous; so, I guess that makes her the other side of the coin.” The others joined in the laughter at that, and even I got a good laugh out of it. I couldn’t see myself as either a selfish and mischievous lecher or a magical transforming entity.

We kept talking until the floor meeting began back at our residence. The meeting was basically just a get-to-know-one-another event, and our RA, Allie, explained to us some things about living in the dorm, the rules, and where we could find her if we needed to talk or needed a hand with anything. Some of the other girls were as nervous about starting university as I was, and most of them seemed pretty nice, but the six of us were pretty happy to stay in the company of our little group for the most part and learn more about one another. We stayed in the lounge after the meeting was over until after midnight, when we finally headed to our rooms.

 

 

 

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Author's Note: This chapter didn't exist in the previous version of the story, but I wanted to add some depth, make Raven more relatable, and give her some realistic issues and angst to deal with before we even get to the paranormal stuff. Also, I wanted to make it clear that she's attracted to girls as in this version that will be more a part of the story going forward. It's a short chapter, but I think it adds a lot to the story. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 2: Acceptance

I awoke early for my first day of classes, a nervous bundle of energy in the general shape of a young woman. While a good portion of that nervous energy was due to excitement about starting classes and meeting new people, the whole meeting new people thing was terrifying in a way as well. I seemed to do well when I met Jamie and the other girls, and I had even managed to get more comfortable with them as we spent a good portion of Labour Day together, hanging out and getting to know one another, but I had had another constant companion as well, anxiety.

As much as I liked them and could see us becoming friends, I was terrified almost every time I spoke or interacted with them, terrified of my social inexperience causing problems. I worried about saying the wrong thing and offending or hurting someone, making some humiliating social blunder, not knowing something that I should, or giving off the wrong kind of signals. A barrage of worst-case scenarios bombarded my mind with every word or action that I made until my heart raced, I couldn’t breathe, and I felt like I was going to explode.

As a result, I spent a lot of our time together not saying much and just enjoying the company, and they seemed to understand why. At least I wasn’t alone since Jenn seemed to be just as socially anxious and even more shy than I was with our new friends. They all seemed to believe that we were both just shy and inexperienced, and wanted to help us break out of our shells so we could be more social. I don’t think that any of them, except perhaps Erin, suspected just how anxious I was with them during those first couple of days, though.

That was only five people, and there were thousands out there to interact with on campus, people who might not be so understanding. I took a deep breath and climbed out from beneath my covers as I told myself, “It’s just first-day jitters. Completely understandable with my lack of social experience with people my own age.”

Once I had managed to calm down somewhat, I grabbed my basket of shower supplies and headed for our floor’s shared bathroom to prepare for my day. Thank goodness they had private shower stalls in there because showering with people that I didn’t know seemed awkward to me. For some reason, just the thought of being naked in front of other girls I had met on my floor, or seeing them naked, made me blush as a warmth arose within me.

It wasn’t like I was ashamed of my body. I knew, objectively, that I was actually quite pretty and in very good shape from yoga and working out, and I almost wanted the other girls to look at me for some reason that escaped me. Was that normal? Was it normal to have to tear my eyes away from other girls in various states of undress so that my gaze would not linger too long?

Yeah, I did not think I was ready for group showers, and even just stepping out of my shower stall to dry off and quickly putting my bathrobe on required a titanic effort to keep my eyes to myself as I finished my morning routine. I made myself hurry, lest I give in to that strange urge to look. Was I really so socially starved that I found myself curious about what other girls looked like? It didn’t feel like curiosity to me, it was almost a need or desire that I couldn’t quite understand.

I tried to put it out of my mind and keep my eyes to myself as I headed back to my dorm room and wondered just what was coming over me. I told myself that I would get over it, that it was just because of the new situation and not being used to being around so many people. It wasn’t my first time feeling these things since leaving home after all.

My eyes had been drawn toward one of my new friends, too. Since we met and started hanging out during dinner that first night, I found my eyes sometimes wandering toward Kendra. She was tall, athletic, and pretty with gorgeous red hair. At first, I thought it might be because she was just that striking, and such an energetic and extroverted person that she just naturally drew attention, but while that might be part of it, I didn’t notice the other girls sneaking glances at her like I was.

During those first few days of classes, I was basically an anxious mess as I settled into my new routine, tried to get used to socializing with people in class and other situations, and explored my new friendships. Despite how my eyes seemed to be drawn to Kendra, and having Jamie as a roommate, it was Erin that I connected to the most over the next couple of weeks as I found my stride. We had a few classes together, hung out and studied together, and had a lot of fun in each other’s company. It was like we were on the same wavelength, and we quickly became best friends.

It was spending so much with her that made me come to a life-changing realization about myself. We were chilling out in her room and studying while her roommate, Jenn, was at the library when I found myself glancing in Erin’s direction and wondering why my eyes weren’t drawn to her like they were to Kendra, or several other girls that I had met on campus. She was fast becoming my best friend, so shouldn’t she be drawing my attention more than some pretty co-ed I barely knew during biology class?

“Maybe she’s just not my type,” I thought, trying to dismiss it. I almost ignored that seemingly casual thought for an instant before it circled back and hit me like a speeding semi-truck. That one thought, and the realization that came on its heels, changed everything, and I began having trouble breathing as I was thrown headlong into an anxiety attack.

I had a type, and that type seemed to be a type of girl. As I struggled for air and tightly gripped my biology book with trembling hands, I tore through my memories and tried to find anything that would discount the monumental truth I now faced. And it was the truth, I could feel it in my bones that the realization I had come to was an incontrovertible part of who I was.

Still, I frantically searched my memories for something that might prove this wrong, that I wasn’t… gay. I wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate that my experience with people my own age was so limited. I mostly only had the first couple of weeks at school to work with. I knew now that there were girls, like Kendra, that I had been attracted to, but were there any guys? As I went over the past few weeks in my mind, I became increasingly distressed as not a single guy stood out in my mind.

I knew that there were some guys I met who were objectively handsome or cute, but none of them had caught my interest or made me feel warm inside like certain girls did. Just the memory of Kendra in that low-cut top she wore at lunch today was getting me aroused, and I was now fairly certain that the feeling was arousal, but I couldn’t dredge up any memories of guys that made me feel that way. Even trying to think of guys that way had the opposite effect; it was a complete turn-off.

My music tutor was very attractive, but I couldn’t remember being attracted to him or having any sort of schoolgirl crush. No, I found my yoga teacher much more fascinating. She was in her twenties and very fit, and the mere memory of some of the positions she taught me probably would have had me very hot under the collar if I wasn’t struggling for air from what seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of my non-existent heterosexuality.

“…aven… Come on, Raven, snap out of it!” Oh, hey, I knew that voice. That was Erin. Weren’t we doing something together before my existential crisis? It must have been important because she sounded really insistent, and in some far-off corner of my mind, I could feel her squeezing my hand tighter and tighter as her voice grew more concerned. “Slow, deep breaths, Raven. Come on, you can do it, come back to me.”

Oh yeah, I was hyperventilating and shaking, that was probably what was concerning her, and now that I was aware of that again, and not stuck in my head, I realized that my face and certain other parts of my body were starting to get kind of tingly. I guess I should try to breathe like she said.

Closing my eyes, I took one long, slow, deep inhale and then held it for a moment before exhaling again. Then I took another, followed by a third, and kept going, carefully controlling my breathing until I got back into a normal rhythm and no longer felt like I was starving for air. Then, I could breathe again. I was still freaking out on the inside, but I was breathing, and I was showing no outside signs that there was anything to worry about anymore. So, the awkward moment should be over, right?

Wrong. When I opened my eyes, I saw Erin kneeling in front of me with a very worried look on her face. She held both of my hands in hers, and that awkward moment was now replaced with a brief awkward silence before Erin decided to fill it with words. “Okay, Raven, are you going to tell me what the hell that was about?”

My eyes left her worried visage and darted around searching for something, anything, that might explain what just happened. The only thing they found was my biology textbook, which was now lying closed on the floor. “Biology test anxiety?” I tried hopefully.

“I’m in your biology class, Raven, and we don’t have any tests coming up,” she replied, a mix of concern and disappointment coloring both her tone and her face now. Oh, right. I really needed to stop internally freaking out about this and actually think, because she was sitting right beside me for that entire episode of Gay Panic: The Raven DeMarco Edition and I was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to accept another flimsy excuse like that last one.

I couldn’t tell her what that was really about, could I? Just the thought of that had me freezing up and starting to panic again, and I had to carefully control my breathing as I thought about how to handle this. My social experience was limited, and I had only known Erin for less than three weeks, so I had absolutely no clue how she would react if I told her the truth. I had no idea how our other friends would react either, and that scared me.

I was just starting to get used to being in school and talking to people without worrying about making some epic social blunder. I had friends for the first time in my life. The last thing that I wanted was to lose them because of this new wrinkle in my life. I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t want this, and as much as I wanted to be honest with my best friend, I was terrified of what consequences that might bring.

“I…” The words wouldn’t come to me, I couldn’t think of anything that might explain the freak out I just had, and the truth died on my tongue before it could make its way past my quivering lips. Shit, I was shaking again, and with the way she was watching me, I was pretty sure she’d noticed that.

Somehow, I had managed to forget that she was still holding my hands until she gave them a gentle squeeze. “Raven, that was a full-blown panic attack, and, as your friend, I’m very worried about you right now. Please, tell me what’s going on with you. I promise, whatever it is, I’ll try not to freak out.”

The look on her face was so concerned and so earnest that any thoughts I had of coming up with some other excuse died there and then. She was my friend, and she was worried, so maybe I owed her the truth. If she really was my friend, then maybe she would understand and accept this part of me, and if she wasn’t, wouldn’t it be better to know now before I got too invested? Either way, I didn’t want our friendship to be based on lies.

“I…” the words once again caught in my throat, but this time I took a deep breath to steel myself and then forced them out anyway. When the words came, they gushed from between my lips in a nervous torrent.

“I think I might be gay. I don’t really have much experience, but I think I’ve been feeling attracted to some of the girls on campus. At first, I just thought I found them interesting because they were catching my attention, but then I wondered why you weren’t grabbing my attention like that and thought that maybe you weren’t my type, and then I realized I had a type, and that type was girls, and it’s really freaking me out because I’m scared of losing my friends and I don’t know how to lesbian. I don’t even like wearing flannel!” By the time I was finished, I needed air badly, my voice had gone up an octave or two in desperation and panic, and I was staring at her wide-eyed as I awaited her rejection.

“Whoa, okay, that’s a lot. Breathe, Raven, it’ll be okay, and I’ve totally got your back,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady as she gave my hands another reassuring squeeze. “So, you’re maybe a lesbian, it’s not a big deal, at least it isn’t to me. It doesn’t change who you are, and that’s the person I want to be friends with; it doesn’t matter to me who revs your engine so long as you’re not expecting me to give you a tune-up. I’m afraid I’m straight, but I think you said I’m not your type, right?”

I was non-verbal again, feeling like I was going to just melt into Erin’s bed in sheer relief from her easy acceptance of something I was having trouble accepting about myself. Since I couldn’t answer in any meaningful way to respond to her question, I just rapidly shook my head. For some reason, she looked perplexed at that quick response.

“Wait, not even a little?” she asked. Another rapid headshake from me had her laughing. “Well, I’m not sure whether I should be happy we’ll be spared that awkwardness or insulted that you’re not into me. I’m all kinds of sexy. See?” She let go of my hands and stood up to start making the most overly exaggerated ‘sexy’ poses and expressions I had ever seen someone try to make in my limited experience.

Just like that, all the tension that I was feeling since I made my profound realization dissolved, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her antics. After we both recovered from the fit of giggles that followed her performance, I asked hesitantly, not sure whether to believe it yet, “So… umm… are we cool then? I mean, our relationship… nonono, not that kind of relationship, but the being friends thing!”

Erin sat up from the bed beside me, where she had collapsed earlier during her fit of giggles, and put her arm around my shoulders to pull me close. “Calm down, Raven. We’re cool, very cool, and I still want you to be my bestie. Especially now that I know you won’t try to steal my boyfriends.” The last was said in a teasing tone as she hugged me tight, and then she asked, “Are you gonna be okay now?”

As she held me there, I released the breath I had been holding and deflated in her embrace. “Yeah, I guess so. I think I have to figure myself out, though. This is kinda big, and I’m not even sure who I am right now. Thanks for being cool with it, Erin.”

She just squeezed me tighter and pulled me closer into her friendly embrace. “Hey, what kind of bestie would I be if I didn’t have your back? I mean it, Raven, I’m here for you, whatever you need. If you need someone to talk to about all this, I’m here. If you need to vent or a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be here for that, too. I’ll even listen to you talk about all the cute girls you like, if you’re willing to hear me talk about cute boys.”

Something about her easy acceptance and friendly joking made me relax and want to joke right back. “Boys? Ewww. That might be a tough one, but for you, I’ll try.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s going to be so tough for you ‘cause you’re all about the tits and ass.” The teasing words barely left her mouth when I backed up to gape at her grinning face. “What? Too soon?”

She had me giggling again, and I barely managed to get out, “I don’t know. I’m… new at this. You’ll have to… give me time to check the Lesbian Handbook.”

“It should come with your union card, I would think. Probably ebook or paperback, I can’t imagine them selling that one in hardcover,” she retorted, making me chortle.

“You’re… terrible,” I gasped out.

“Yep, but I cheered you up, didn’t I?” she replied with a smug grin.

She did cheer me up. Things didn’t feel as overwhelming as they did before we had this talk. I leaned over to hug her again as I said, “Thanks, Erin. For being cool with this and being… well, you. Do you… think I should tell the others?”

Her answer was immediate, and not at all what I expected. “You still need to figure yourself out, right? This was a big revelation for you; you probably still have a lot of self-discovery ahead, and one good talk with a supportive friend isn’t going to suddenly make you okay with all of this. There’s no rush to tell the others. Figure things out first, and then you can tell them when you feel comfortable enough to come out of the closet. Until then, it’ll just be between you and me, if that’s the way you want it.”

“Thanks, Erin, you’re the best,” I told her honestly as I released her from the hug. With that, the matter was dropped, and we got back to relaxing together as we went over our reading assignment for biology until Jenn came home and I left for my own dorm room to get ready for bed. As I fell asleep, I was so glad to have made a friend like Erin. Her easy acceptance made me feel that maybe I could handle this university thing after all.

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 3: Falling

October 30th, 11:42 pm

I stared at the book on Norse mythology that sat in front of me on my desk and tried not to fall asleep. It wasn’t that I found the topic boring; in fact, I found it very interesting. The sounds of Jamie moving on the other side of the room distracted me a little, and suddenly, my Calculus book was placed in front of me. “You should be studying this, Raven, it never fails to put you to sleep, and you damn well need some.”

I turned to my roommate and shook my head as I countered, “I’ve still got midterms to study for.”

Jamie frowned at me, crossing her arms briefly before suddenly pulling me out of my chair and toward my bed to sit us both on it. “Are you studying so much to pass midterms, or is it just a good excuse to avoid sleeping?” I was about to argue when she continued, “Wait, don’t reply, we both already know the answer. You’ve been sleeping little enough as it is without actively avoiding it. You need sleep, girl.”

“I’m not avoiding sleep,” I argued weakly, “I just need to study… and caffeine, a lot of caffeine, so can we drop this?”

“No way, Raven, we are not dropping this,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ve been having these nightmares for almost a month now, and I’ve let you have your space, hoping you’d get through whatever it is. Now, as your roommate and your friend, I am asking you to tell me what’s going on with you, or do I have to get the others in here too? They’ve been worried, especially Erin. You two usually talk about everything, but you’ve been shutting her out on this, too.”

Despite her early teasing about me being ‘Raven’, Erin and I had become best friends over the past two months since school started. The night that I discovered that I was gay, and she convinced me to tell her, was a turning point that had solidified our relationship and let me know that she would have my back and that I could always depend on her. So far, she was the only person in the world who knew that I was gay too. I was still trying to find my footing and adjust to that myself, and I was a little afraid of how our other friends and Lydia might react.

We were in the same biology class and usually worked on our assignments and studied together. When we weren’t doing that, we spent our spare time together talking, shopping, or just hanging out in one another’s rooms. We had formed a similar type of close friendship as that which had developed between Jamie and Kendra, and our little group often joked that Asako and Jennifer should room together so that Kendra could share a room with Jamie, and I could room with Erin.

I cringed and looked away guiltily as Jamie mentioned Erin and muttered, “You know what’s going on, Jamie, I’ve been having nightmares.” Guilt gnawed at my guts for not being able to tell even my best friend about these nightmares.

My roommate shook her head, her frown deepening. “I know that! Come on, tell me about the dreams, maybe I can help you with whatever is causing them.”

I sighed, still looking away. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“Dammit, Raven! I’m your friend; you don’t need to be so self-conscious around me. The only thing that I think is stupid is you shutting us all out. Now, what are these nightmares about?”

I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to steady myself before speaking. “It always starts differently; I’ll be in class, the hallway, the dining hall, or at a party or something, usually in a group or a crowd. Then I’ll make some sort of social blunder, and everyone around me is laughing at me. And there’s always that horrible voice…” I trailed off, shuddering at the thought of that voice, harsh and grating, like crunching gravel.

“A voice?” she asked. “What does it say?”

“It’s always taunting me,” I replied as I let go of her hand to clench both my fists at my sides. “It says things like ‘You’re not one of them’, ‘They will never accept you’, and ‘You’re better off alone’, and then it starts laughing along with everyone else in the dream.”

She was silent for a time. Finally, she sighed, and I opened my eyes to see her watching me in concern. “Raven, I know I’m only a student, but I think that you could be suffering from social anxiety or possibly demophobia. It’s understandable with your sheltered background.”

“Demophobia? What’s that, a fear of demons or something?” I asked.

“That would be silly, demons don’t exist, and that wouldn’t be related to the dreams you described. Demophobia is the persistent and irrational anxiety and fear of crowds or large gatherings of people,” she explained. “Do you get extremely nervous or afraid when interacting with others? Any trouble breathing?”

The only real issue I had with socializing was being a little afraid of being caught looking at a girl who caught my interest too long or accidentally stumbling out of the closet somehow, but I thought that was getting better. The dreams never seemed to poke at those fears specifically, though, which was confusing. If these really were dreams about my subconscious fears or something, I thought that at least one would have me hitting on a girl and being shot down, saying something to out myself, or have someone call me out for being gay. These were all just generic social situations or, strangely enough, me trying to interact with boys and getting shot down.

That wasn’t what truly disturbed me, though; it was always that voice, the taunts, and the laughter. I tried to shake off the memories and shook my head in answer to Jamie’s questions. “Maybe at first, during the first week of school. I don’t think I’ve felt like that since, though, at least, not any more than any other person, and I’ve never had trouble breathing. Why would this suddenly happen now? I haven’t been having any troubles socially with you, Erin, or the others, and I was doing fine in large groups until the dreams started.”

My roommate shrugged and shook her head. “I have no clue. Maybe you’re subconsciously suppressing it, and your dreams are an outlet for it. I think you need to see a professional about this, or maybe face your fear. I know you’re not a partier, but you should come with me and the rest of the group tomorrow night to a Halloween party that one of Kendra’s friends is holding; it might help us figure out if that’s really the problem or if it’s something else.”

“I don’t know, Jamie, I really do need to study, and I don’t have a costume,” I complained.

“Erin said she’d help with a costume if I could convince you to go. Besides, it’s Friday tomorrow and you’ll have the whole weekend to study.” Seeing my resistance starting to weaken from her arguments, she pressed on. “There’ll be cute guys there, and Sarah’s apartment is on Southwest Marine Drive, about a ten-minute drive from campus. It’s near the beach, so if the crowd gets to you, just grab me or Erin, and we can take a walk to get some air. Or I heard about a really big party on the south shore of False Creek.”

I groaned at that. “False Creek? No thanks, my house is in that area.” I had been avoiding going home, or even calling much since the dreams had begun, afraid that Lydia might find my lack of sleep a good excuse to try to convince me to return home. I also had zero interest in meeting guys and having them try to pick me up.

Jamie merely nodded. “Well, then you’ll have someplace to go if you need to be alone or need a place to crash after too much drinking. It’s your house, so stop avoiding it; it won’t kill you to go there once in a while.”

“Oh yeah,” I retorted with an unladylike snort. “Lydia would just love that, me showing up drunk with a friend or five in the same condition. It would be a great reason for her to keep me home where it's ‘safe’ and she can protect me from myself.”

“We won’t go to the one there if it makes you uncomfortable; it was only a backup plan anyway. Honestly, Raven, Lydia can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Jamie said, giving me a stern look. “Besides, doesn’t she just take care of the house for you now that you’re legally an adult? I know she’s probably the closest thing to a mother you know, but she doesn’t run your life anymore, you do.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples in an attempt to stave off the headache that was forming. “I know that. Even though she didn’t want me to move out to go to school, she didn’t try to stop me in any way other than asking me to stay. The look on her face when I left… I feel like just being here is making me a huge disappointment to her.” I didn’t even want to think about how she might respond if I found the courage to tell her I was a lesbian.

To my surprise, I heard Jamie laugh. “Everyone feels like a disappointment to their parents when they can’t see eye to eye. I felt that way when I came here, too. It was like I wasn’t living up to what my parents wanted from me, but it was my life, not theirs, and I needed to do what was right for me. I can understand that Lydia wants to keep you safe, but you need to be free to live your life and make your own decisions and mistakes. Without that, you’re not living, you’re just existing.” I think she may have said more after that, but it was lost to me as sleep claimed me.

My sleep was plagued by yet another nightmare, and I awoke in a cold sweat. The voice from my dream lingered, unwilling to release its hold on my mind. “How much longer do you think that you can keep it up? Sooner or later, you will make a mistake, and they will all see that you are not normal. You will never be one of them.” Like nails on a chalkboard, the sound and the words threatened to drive me mad as fear clutched my heart in its icy grip.

I lay there for several minutes with my eyes closed, trying to stop shivering, control my labored breathing, and banish the voice from my thoughts. By the time I got control of myself and sat up in bed, the alarm clock showed the time to be just before seven o’clock. I gave up on any more sleep, took off the clothes that I had fallen asleep in the night before, and after I had slipped into my fluffy white bathrobe, I gathered my toiletries and shuffled off to the showers.

The shower was hot and managed to help ease some of my aches from sleeping in a strange position, while relaxing me enough that I could think about the things that my roommate had said the night before. Deep down, I didn’t believe she was right about my problem being social anxiety or demophobia. I had gotten over any anxiety or fear of social situations during the first few weeks of classes. In fact, I had felt like I was starting to become more comfortable socially and getting used to the thought of being attracted to girls just before the dreams began. Still, while I might not think she was right about the source of my problem, she could be right about getting out and having some fun.

I stepped out of the shower and, after patting myself dry and wrapping my hair in a towel, I put on my robe and returned to my room, where Jamie was sitting up in her bed. “How did you sleep?” she asked.

“Oh, it was easy,” I joked lamely, “I just closed my eyes.”

My roommate groaned at the joke. “Very funny, but you know what I meant. Did you have another nightmare?”

I sat on my bed and plugged in my hairdryer, briefly considering fibbing, before I finally gave her a nod in reply. “Yeah, I had another one, but I think I got around six hours of sleep. That’s a hell of a lot better than I’ve usually been getting lately.”

“I really think you need to see someone about these dreams, Raven. If this keeps up, you’re going to burn out before finals.” There was concern in both her voice and her eyes as she spoke.

“I’ll think about it, Jamie,” I offered in an attempt to ease her mind. Then, in a deliberate change of topic, I asked, “You mentioned a party tonight?”

Her face brightened at that. “Yeah, a friend of Kendra’s is holding it. Erin said she’d help you with a costume if you need it, once you’re both out of biology.” Then she looked at the clock and frowned. “Speaking of classes, I had better go start getting ready or I’ll be late for mine.” As she headed to the showers, I began to dry my hair and wonder just what sort of costume my best friend had in mind for me.

I was glad that Fridays were light on my class schedule. I only had my class on Norse mythology at nine o’clock, followed by a three-hour break before my one o’clock biology class with Erin. Rather than just heading back to my room between classes, I took the materials for both classes in my backpack and spent the time after my morning class in the cafeteria, reading the assigned chapters covering Odin and Valhalla while eating my lunch. Then I was off to my biology class, where we suffered through a less-than-thrilling lecture on how habitat influences a species’ biology, and how various animals have adapted to suit their climates or local ecology.

As we headed back to the dorm, Erin asked, “How did you sleep last night?”

I was tempted to answer with the same joke as before, but instead, I just did my best to give my friend a reassuring smile. “Better than I have in a while, I must have been more tired than I thought. And I must have gotten enough sleep last night if I didn’t fall asleep during that lecture.”

Erin heaved a sigh of relief. “Good, I’ve been worried that you’re working yourself too hard. You’ve been constantly staying up late studying for the past two weeks. You really need to relax a bit. Did Jamie ask you about coming to the party tonight?”

“Yeah, and she said that you would help me with a costume,” I replied.

“Yup, I found the perfect costumes for us,” she said. “I thought we could go as a matched set, and if this doesn’t get you out of your shell, nothing will.” The grin on her face as she answered made me suddenly have second thoughts about getting her ‘help’ with a costume. Only the fact that it was Halloween day and finding a decent costume would be practically impossible, and the thought that at least we would match kept me from telling her I would find something on my own. Besides, she looked so eager.

“You can’t be serious,” I stated as I looked over the costume that Erin had laid out on her bed for me. She was already changed into her own costume, a white mini dress with lace trim and white feathery wings attached to her upper back. A plastic gold halo attached to a hairband, white pumps, and white lace gloves completed the outfit. “So, this is why you suggested we get all our biology work done before getting ready for the party? So I wouldn’t have time to back out of wearing this?”

The practiced look of innocence on her face may have gone well with the costume, but I knew better. “Would I do that to my best friend?” she asked.

“Yes, you would,” was my candid response as I looked over the costume on the bed once again.

“Come on, Raven, you’ll look smoking hot in that. If anyone in our little crew has the body to pull that off, it’s you.”

“It’s funny that you used the words ‘pull that off, ’” I retorted, “because I get the feeling that if I wear that, a lot of guys at the party are going to want to do just that. That’s the last thing I want.”

“It’s fun to show off once in a while,” she pressed, “and maybe you’ll meet a girl you’ll want to pull it off for. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time unless you tell me otherwise, to make sure nothing happens that you don’t want to. You need to let loose a little, Raven. Now, hurry up so we have time to do a proper job on our makeup.”

“Fine, I’ll wear the stupid thing.” I slipped out of my clothes and began getting into the costume. First was a red and black latex bikini top, followed by a matching thong. “This isn’t a costume,” I muttered, “it's fetish gear.” Once I was into the top and the thong, I began to put on the accessories; a black mesh miniskirt with red latex trim and an attached red devil’s tail at the back, matching fingerless gloves, thigh-high fishnet stockings, a pair of red two-inch heels, and a black hairband with devil’s horns that matched the tail.

Once I had everything on, Erin whistled appreciatively. “See, I told you that you’d look good. You’re hot as hell.”

I rolled my eyes at the joke. “You’ve been waiting all day to use that joke, haven’t you? I swear that I’m leaving the party the first time that a guy asks me if I’m horny.”

“What if a girl asks? Will you leave with her or on your own?” she joked back as we applied our makeup in front of her mirror. “Just so I know what to expect,” she added with another look of false innocence.

The comment almost made me screw up applying the sparkly red eye shadow that went with the costume. “Why are you my best friend again?”

“My references were good?” She grinned at me in the mirror as she finished applying her own sparkly white eye shadow.

“If you keep this up, I won’t let you drive my car tonight,” I teased.

She shook her head. “You don’t have a choice about that. You’re supposed to be relaxing and letting loose tonight, which means that I’m the designated driver.” Since my car could only seat two, Erin and I would be going together, while Jamie, Kendra, and Jennifer would all be going with Asako in her Prius. The rest of the crew were all waiting for us when we got to the third-floor common room. Jamie was dressed as a witch, Asako as a cat, Kendra as a French maid, and Jenn’s sexy nurse costume was almost as bad as my devil outfit.

“Damn!” Jamie said with a grin. “You look good, Raven. I never thought that Erin would actually be able to convince you to wear it.” She looked in her purse and pulled out a ten-dollar bill, which she promptly handed over to Kendra. “It’s about time you and Jenn came out of your shells a bit.”

I tried not to let my eyes linger too long on Kendra’s sexy costume as she grinned back at her friend, took the money, and started dragging Jamie toward the elevator. “I told you so, Jamie. Now come on, girls, it’s time to party!”

Once we made our way out to the parking lot, we split up to get to our respective vehicles. We planned to meet back up at the parking lot exit, and then Erin and I would follow them in my car while Kendra gave Asako directions. I had decided to let Erin drive on the way there so that she would have the chance to get used to driving my car before having to do so later as the designated driver. I had let her drive the car a couple of times before, but she was still getting used to a manual transmission.

As we drove along the streets of the west side from the campus through the University endowment lands toward Marine Drive, Erin and I talked about midterms and tried to come up with plans for the weekend to give us short breaks from studying and homework. Almost ten minutes had passed when we pulled up in front of an apartment complex on Southwest Marine Drive. Kendra told us that the building overlooked the beach, but it was hard to see much in the fading light of dusk other than what was illuminated by streetlamps, or the lights of the building and the homes to either side.

Kendra pressed the intercom number for her friend’s apartment, and we all listened for a response. For a couple of minutes, the only sounds were our breathing, the beeping of the intercom, and the cries of nearby seagulls. Then the sudden crackling static of the intercom as someone picked up on the other end nearly made me jump. The sounds of music and people talking over it could be clearly heard in the background as a voice said, “Hello.”

“Hi, Sarah. It's Kendra and company,” our ginger-haired companion replied.

“Come on in, girls.” Then the door began to buzz, and Kendra reached over to open it before motioning us all inside and showing us toward the apartment.

The blonde girl who answered the door was tall and athletic-looking like Kendra, and she was dressed as a policewoman, with her honey-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. She gave us all a big smile, “I’m glad that you and your friends could make it, Kendra.” The girl was just my type, and I had trouble looking away from her, clad in that sexy costume, as a warmth grew in my chest, and somewhat lower as well.

Introductions were quickly made, and we were all ushered inside where the party was already in full swing. There were people in pairs or groups trying to talk to one another over the music, a portion of the living room had been cleared for dancing, and the small kitchenette was crowded with people getting drinks. “It’s really crowded in here!” I yelled to be heard over the music as Sarah gave us a quick tour.

“If you need some fresh air, just go out the patio door!” she yelled back. “We’re on ground level, and it’s only a short walk to the beach!” I nodded in reply, and she continued the tour.

An hour later, I was really enjoying myself. I was nursing my third beer of the night and talking to a guy named Matt. Mostly because my friends thought I needed to socialize and said he was cute. He had short-cropped brown hair and green eyes, and he was attending UBC on a basketball scholarship. I guess he could be considered cute, if one was into guys, but I wasn’t attracted to him, or any of the guys I had met so far, which seemed to only confirm my sexuality.

At least he was fun to talk to, even if I suspected he might be trying to get into my pants. Wait, I wasn’t wearing pants, and I wasn’t sure what to call the latex thong and barely there skirt I was wearing. At least he wasn’t a jerk or throwing horrible pick-up lines at me like some of the other guys, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him in a public setting like this and at least give the appearance of being hetero to my friends who I hadn’t come out of the closet to.

Erin was not far away, talking to one of his friends and sticking close in case I needed her to bail me out. “Are you here on a sports scholarship too?” Matt asked as he looked over my body. “You look like you’re in pretty good shape.”

I shook my head and tried not to shiver at the long appreciative look he was giving me; it made me uncomfortable having a guy appraise me like that. I wasn’t sure if it was that or the beer that was making my stomach queasy as I replied. “No, sports aren’t really my thing. I’ve been doing yoga since I was ten, and I work out sometimes, but that’s about it. The most strenuous thing I do other than that is play guitar,” I told him with a laugh.

Matt grinned at me. “Are you in a band or do you just play for fun? What kind of music do you like playing?”

“Mostly I play for fun, but being in a band would be cool,” I admitted after downing the last of my beer. “Mostly I like punk rock; The Offspring, Bikini Kill, and Green Day, that sort of stuff. I grew up listening to old-school stuff like The Ramones, and there’s a lot of good new bands on the scene now.”

“Cool,” he replied with a nod. Then he gestured at my now-empty beer bottle and offered, “Would you like me to get you another beer?”

“Uh… sure, thanks,” I replied, a bit uncertainly. Was he trying to get me drunk so he could get me into bed? He’d been nice so far. What if he was just being friendly? I wasn’t sure what he wanted, and I didn’t know the first thing about flirting between guys and girls, except for the really obvious, and terrible, pickup lines. Were there some subtle social nuances that I wasn’t picking up on?

“You are not one of them,” the voice from my nightmares taunted me. “You think you can fit in, but you can’t. You don’t know what to do, do you?”

“No,” I spoke softly as my heart raced. The voice had never bothered me when I was awake before. “This is a nightmare.”

“You’re not normal and you never will be,” the voice pressed. “Look at all these normal humans around you; they know what to do and how to react to one another. Who can help you? Your friends? They’re normal too, and soon they will tire of you. Then they will laugh at you along with everyone else.”

I gripped my head in my hands, trying to force the voice away. “It’s a dream. It’s got to be a dream,” I murmured as I clutched my head.

I didn’t even notice Matt returning with a beer in each hand. “Do you have a headache, Raven? Maybe I should get you some aspirin. I remember the first time I drank too much, my friends never let me live it down,” he said with a chuckle.

“See, he’s laughing,” the voice taunted again. “Soon they will all be laughing at your attempts to be one of them, something you’re not.”

“No! Leave me alone!” I screamed as I pushed past Matt and rushed through the crowd to the patio door. I thought I could hear Erin calling my name, but I just kept running until I was out the door and well on my way to the beach beyond. I needed to be alone.

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 4: Revelations

I kept on half-stumbling and half-running until I reached the water’s edge. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky, not providing much light, and I had lost my shoes somewhere along the way, but I didn’t particularly care as I turned and ran along the water’s edge to put more space between me and the party. “Raven!” I heard Erin call again from somewhere behind me. I ignored her and just kept running, closing my eyes against the tears. I needed to get away from people, away from that voice.

Suddenly the wind was knocked out of me as I slammed into something and fell onto my butt. I opened my eyes and looked up to see a large man looming over me. It was hard to make out his features in the dark, but he appeared to be tall with dark hair, and he was wearing a dark robe of some kind that I assumed must be a Halloween costume. “I… I’m sorry,” I stammered as I sat there in the cold, damp sand, looking up at him.

“Don’t be,” he replied in a gravelly voice that I was far too familiar with. “I’ve been hoping that we might bump into each other for a very long time, Miss Demarco.”

My eyes went wide, and I tried to back away along the sand, only to bump into something else. I looked back to see another man in a robe. My eyes darted around in a panic, my heart racing as I looked around for an escape route, only to find that there were seven men in total, and I was effectively surrounded. “Who are you? What do you want from me?!” I blurted out.

The voice that had haunted my nightmares spoke again, as the man attached to that voice gave a predatory smile. “I wouldn’t worry about who we are, Miss Demarco. You won’t be alive long enough for it to matter to you. As for what we want, well… we want your blood, and we’re not too picky about how we get it. So, you can either stay there and we can get it over with, or you can struggle, and we can have some fun.”

“M-my blood?” I stared at him wide-eyed as he pulled a wicked-looking dagger with a curved blade from his robes.

“Oh yes,” my tormentor replied, licking his lips. “Your blood will free our Master. I’ve waited a long time for this. Your blood would be more potent if you weren’t sealed, but it’s of no matter, it will work regardless and be a lot easier this way.”

“S-sealed?” I stammered, my voice trembling in terror as much as my body, as I looked frantically for a way out. What the hell was this guy talking about?

He continued speaking as if I hadn’t said a thing. “We were content to wait until you Manifested since that Imp did such a good job of keeping you out of our reach, but then you went to that school with all the humans. We couldn’t figure out how you could hide yourself among them so easily, but then we figured it out; you’ve been sealed all along, and that makes things so much easier for us. You were always among the humans, though, and we can’t afford too many witnesses, so we needed to get you alone.”

I stared at him and tried to swallow the lump of fear rising in my throat. “The dreams...”

The man behind me hauled me to my feet and held me in place as the leader dragged the flat of the blade slowly along my jawline, the cool metal blade brushing against my flesh, causing me to shiver. “Do you know how much power it cost me to invade your mind all those times?” he asked. “It was worth it, though, to get you alone.”

“Who says she’s alone, asshole?” came Erin’s voice as a stone bounced off the leader’s forehead.

He looked past me toward Erin with a look of annoyance. “You just got in way over your head, human. You can all dispose of her; I’ll take care of this one and get her blood.”

The one holding me threw me to the ground. “As you command, Reimus,” he replied, casting a look toward Erin that I didn’t like at all.

Before I could try to scramble away, Reimus was on top of me with the knife pressed against my throat. “Would you like to watch your friend die before I take your life?” he hissed, his hot, stinking breath in my face, as his features started to change. His eyes changed from something that looked brown to a glowing red, his ears lengthened and became pointed, and a pair of black horns sprouted from his forehead. In the dark, I could barely make out the details as the others swaggered toward Erin, but from the gasp that she let out, it sounded like they were going through similar transformations.

One of the men managed to get a hold of Erin, and she was thrown to the ground beside me. Reimus held my head, trying to force me to watch, as one of his toadies stood over her, smiling as his fingernails lengthened into needle-like claws. It was then that Erin began to shake, her eyes rolling back into her head, as her back arched and a mist formed around her body. I had thought that the creatures were responsible for this, but they seemed to be as confused as I was. The mist gathered upon Erin’s chest and began to take shape, forming what looked like some sort of large cat with a stubby tail, a cat that promptly attacked the still-staring Demons.

“The human is some kind of Mage, you fools!” Reimus screamed at his men, who were trying to fight the apparition. “Kill her body and be done with it!” Then he glared down at me, raising the dagger. “I’ve wasted enough time. Goodbye, Miss Demarco.”

He hadn’t plunged the dagger into my chest yet, but I felt like he had. My chest, back, and shoulders were consumed in a white-hot pain, which was spreading quickly to the rest of my body. In my pain, fear, and desperation, I struck at the Demon atop me, trying to keep him from taking my life. My blow landed and, to my great surprise, sent him flying.

I got to my feet, groaning, even as Reimus did the same. “Her seal broke! Forget the Mage, we need to get the girl’s blood before her power fully manifests!” I stood shakily, wondering how I had managed to hit him that hard and if I would be able to do it again. My balance felt off, and I could feel something heavy on my back. I was pretty sure I’d been lucky before and was uncertain about whether a repeat performance was possible against the one Demon, let alone seven.

One of the Demons had its hands full with the cat, which seemed much more solid than the mist implied. The leader and the other five, though, were heading right for me. I glared at Reimus and stood up straight. This… thing had invaded my dreams, threatened my life and that of my best friend, and had me avoiding people in fear. If I was going to lose my life to that bastard, then I was going to damn well go down fighting.

I threw myself at him, knocking him to the ground, and started punching him the moment we hit the wet sand. I was kneeling on top of him and pummeling him with my fists when I felt the others grabbing at me and trying to restrain me. The weight on my upper back was making things awkward, and I could feel them grabbing at something there, but I couldn’t place what it was, and honestly, I had more pressing concerns at the moment. It was then that I felt rushing air and water splashing against my back and shoulders, as the demons trying to hold me were sent flying.

I looked up to see the Demon fighting the mist cat nearby get thrown back as well. “What in the hell is going on now?” I muttered as three figures approached us.

“Damn PDA,” Reimus spat, “don’t think this is over.” Then the Demon beneath me vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving behind only a trace scent of brimstone in the air.

I looked around, confused for a moment, until my eyes focused on Erin’s body lying on the beach. Ignoring the three new arrivals, I half ran, and half crawled to kneel beside my friend, where the foggy feline was sitting atop her chest. The mist began to dissipate, losing its shape as it settled on and around Erin, seeming to seep into her. I pressed my head to her chest to find that her heart was beating, and she was breathing steadily, so I started to shake her lightly. “Erin, please wake up.”

Erin stirred and sighed, just lying there for a time with her eyes closed before responding. “Raven, is that you? I have got the worst headache. I had the weirdest dream; you were being attacked by these guys who turned into some sort of monsters, and I think I was a cat.” She opened her eyes to look up at me and blinked several times, looking confused. “I think I’m still dreaming.”

“It’s okay, Erin, I know it might have seemed like a nightmare, but it’s over, and I think we’re safe now.” I looked up at the three figures standing close by. It was hard to make out features in the dark, but it looked like two women and a man. The shorter of the two women, who had short hair and was dressed in a bikini top and a wrap, nodded and approached to sit beside us. Even in the darkness, she looked like she was pretty and very fit, and under other circumstances, she might be very distracting to me. The other two people, wearing what looked like some sort of wetsuits, began to look around the area. “Yeah, it seems like we’re safe,” I said, “are you okay?”

Erin nodded mutely as she looked at something over my shoulder, “I think I’m okay.” Then she shook her head as if to clear it, blinked her eyes several more times, and then stared over my shoulder again in disbelief. “Raven, you… You have wings.”

I turned my head to the right and looked behind me, wondering what she was talking about, the weight on my back shifting with the movement. There I saw what looked like a large black bird’s wing. In disbelief, curiosity, and quite a bit of confusion, I reached back to tentatively touch one of them, feeling the soft feathers under my fingers. Something about them felt strange, though. It was like I was not only feeling them with my fingers, but someone was simultaneously softly running fingers along my spine, only it wasn’t my spine. Then the realization hit me like a hammer, and I fainted.

Someone was gently shaking me. ~Wake up, please. We can’t stay here, we need to move you in case they come back with reinforcements.~ The voice was feminine, with a musical quality to it. It was very soothing and, in a way, familiar. Everything came back to me then, the Demons, Erin, our mysterious saviors, and those wings.

I kept trying to tell myself that this wasn’t real, that it couldn’t possibly be real, and as long as I kept my eyes closed and ignored the strange sensations that I was feeling, I could almost believe it. Lying there with my eyes closed, though, only seemed to make me more aware of the strange-feeling new appendages. It also made me aware of something I had failed to notice earlier; my teeth felt different, like I had fangs or something. Was I some sort of monster? I curled up in a ball and could feel the wings wrapping around me protectively, tickling my bare skin.

~Please, we need to get you somewhere safe,~ the voice repeated as I started to panic. ~I know that this is shocking and probably very frightening for you, Miss Demarco. I can help ease your fear, but you have to calm down.~

“Calm down?!” The voice probably could have calmed me down if I let her, but I didn’t want to calm down, and I had more than my share to panic over. “Demons want my blood, I’m some kind of freak, and you’re telling me to calm down?! How am I supposed to live a normal life like this?!”

~You are not a freak,~ the voice insisted gently. ~You’re a Paranormal, just like me. We can help you adjust and live a normal life, but we need to take you somewhere safe first.~

“Paranormal? Like, as in ghosts and goblins?” I asked in disbelief as anger and fear gave way to confusion.

~Kind of,~ she replied, ~there are a lot of different types of Paranormals. I promise we can tell you more once you and your friend are safe, so please open your eyes and stand up. We have a boat to take you somewhere safe, your friend is already aboard and waiting.~

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and got to my feet with the help of the strange young woman in the bikini top and wrap. “Who are you people?” I asked.

~We’re Paranormals, like you. I’m Alice MacArthur, and the ones waiting by the boat with your friend are my parents, Lila and Jake. My mother and I are Merfolk, and my father is a Water Mage. They heard about your situation and dropped everything to come help, and I tagged along in case they needed any assistance. My parents thought that you might be more comfortable talking to someone your own age, while they secured the area.~

It was then that I realized that her lips weren’t moving. “Hey! What are you doing in my head?!”

She put a hand gently on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. ~I apologize if this bothers you, but Merfolk can’t speak; our physical voices are magical, so we only communicate with others telepathically. If it makes you feel more comfortable, I can’t read your thoughts unless you specifically intend for me to hear them.~

“Sorry, but the last voice I had in my head wanted to kill me,” I snapped as I shook free of her gentle grip.

~We only want to help you,~ she insisted as we got to the light-colored speedboat that sat waiting for us. She sounded hurt, and I felt bad for that. She hadn’t shown any intent other than to help me so far.

I cursed silently and looked away from Alice to look over the boat. Erin was already aboard and looked like she was asleep. “I’m sorry, I know you’re just trying to help, but it’s been a rough night. Is Erin okay?”

~It’s alright; I would probably feel the same way if I were in your place,~ she responded with no hint of hurt feelings.

Alice’s parents were leaning against the boat, and it was Alice’s mother who answered my question. ~Your friend is fine, she’s just sleeping. She used up a lot of energy. You were lucky that we were at a party nearby when we got the call, or your night could have been a lot worse.~ Her ‘voice’ was as melodic as Alice’s, but where Alice’s had the feel of an acoustic guitar, hers was more like a harp. It was just as soft and soothing, but more delicate.

“How did you know that I was in trouble anyway?” I asked. “Who called you?”

A seagull glided past me to land beside the boat. Before the bird even touched the sand, it began to grow, its form shifting and flowing, until it became someone very familiar. “I did,” the figure said as she stepped forward to embrace me. “I took the place of a drunk coed to watch over you at that party and I was worried when you suddenly ran off on your own, so I called for backup. I’m so glad that you’re safe, Raven.” Then she stepped back, looking me over for a moment before smiling and reaching out to gently touch my new feathered appendages.

“Lydia?!” I sputtered in shock. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?! Why are you here? And more importantly, is anybody I know normal?!”

“We will explain everything once we get you back home, where it’s safe,” she said. “You can’t go back to your dorm looking like that, and there’s a lot that you need to be told. The MacArthurs will take you to the house by water, and I will take your car and meet you there. Hurry up and get on the boat, we need to get you home before Baerahn’s followers decide to regroup and try again.”

For once, I wasn’t going to argue with her about taking me home. Alice and her mother climbed aboard the boat and took their seats while her father gave me a boost to help me in. As I was climbing in, I leaned too far forward while trying to compensate for the weight of my wings and ended up falling into the boat face-first, with my wings tangled with my arms and legs. Once I was untangled and settled into a seat, he pushed the boat further out into the water and climbed aboard. Then his wife gunned the engine, and we took off toward my house.

It was several minutes before I found a comfortable sitting position, and by then the movement of the boat had woken Erin. Sitting up straight caused me to sit on my wings at first, while trying to sit at the rear of the boat got them soaking wet. Finally, I settled on just leaning forward, which put them above and behind me. “How am I supposed to live a normal life with these ridiculous things? They’re constantly getting in the way,” I grouched.

Erin had been watching me try to get comfortable, her eyes never leaving my wings. “I dunno, Raven, I think they kinda suit you.”

“You’ll learn to control them in time, and we should be able to find ways to help you hide them,” offered Alice’s father.

“Oh yeah, hiding these is going to be so easy, why didn’t I think of that?” I retorted sarcastically.

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” he replied calmly, “but if anyone knows about hiding our differences in plain sight, it's Lila and Alice. Why don’t you show them your true form, Alice?” The young woman nodded, and as I looked on, her exposed legs seemed to fuse together, lengthen, and take on a silvery sheen, reflecting what little moonlight there was. She had a… tail. She really was a Mermaid as she claimed. For a long moment, I just sat there silently and stared.

~Are you feeling okay?~ Alice asked. ~I know this is all probably a pretty big shock for you. You’ll get used to it all. There are far weirder things than us out there.~

I shook my head and let out a long sigh before I could manage a reply. “I don’t know, tonight has set the bar for weird shit pretty high.”

“No kidding,” Erin agreed. “Just tonight we’ve learned about the existence of Demons, Mermaids, Mages, and whatever Raven is supposed to be. How the hell do normal people not find out about all this? And why are we not freaking out worse than we are?”

Alice’s musical mental voice offered the answer to that. ~For the most part, humans see what they want to see. Many of us just want to live normal lives and have ways of blending into human society. My mom and I talk telepathically with other Paranormals, but with humans, we have to use sign language. We all adapt. As for your other question, it’s because I’m talking to you. A Mermaid’s mind voice has a calming effect.~

I had absolutely no clue how I could blend in and live a normal life now, even if Alice and her parents seemed to think it was possible. “What about those who can’t hide their differences like you can?”

Alice’s father leaned back in his seat as he contemplated how to answer. Finally, he said, “Lila and I work for the Paranormal Defense Agency. It’s a covert government agency that not only polices the Paranormal but also offers various services to help those of us who desire to live normal lives. The PDA has an office in every major population center in the country and offers counseling, medical services, job placement services, legal services, and assistance with special needs.”

“Paranormal Defense Agency?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Nobody has, unless they have a good reason to,” he replied. “Only those in the highest level of government know about us, and there is no mention of us in the budget. We get our funding through a company that acts as a front, and the government funnels money into that company via federal business grants and other sources. Practically every nation in the world has agencies like the PDA to police the Paranormal and to keep us secret from the general population.”

“Okay, I get why you’re telling this to Raven, those wings are going to be hard for her to hide, but why am I here?” Erin asked. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll blab about your organization?”

He shook his head. “If we were concerned about you telling others, we would get a PDA psychic to alter your memories of tonight, or Lila could use her true voice to help you forget everything you saw. I believe this concerns you as well, Miss Ross. What do you know about magic?”

Erin looked thoughtful for a moment. “Judging from what went on tonight, I’m going to take a stab in the dark and guess that it’s real. My people are more into spirituality than magic, but they could be interchangeable, I guess. My grandfather was a Shaman for our tribe.”

“Did your grandfather ever mention anything about the paranormal or magic?” he asked.

“He told me that I was close to the spirits and that he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He taught me some before he died and left me his journals, but I didn’t take the old beliefs as seriously as I probably should have.” She looked away and sighed before continuing, “I thought I took them seriously, but I guess I didn’t really believe in anything I couldn’t physically see and touch before now. Are you trying to tell me that I’m a Mage like you?”

“No, I don’t think you’re a Mage, Miss Ross,” he replied. “Mages are humans aligned to one or more of the ten elements. Those elements are Earth, Fire, Air, Ice, Metal, Lightning, Wood, Water, Divine, and Death, which the politically correct folks call Dark. Mages can usually sense one another, but the feeling I get from you is different than anything I’ve encountered with other Mages. I can’t sense an affinity to any of the elements. If I did, I would offer to have one of the PDA Mages aligned to the same element train you, but you’ll probably have to find a Shaman to do it or develop your abilities on your own.”

“Or I could just go on with my life and forget this ever happened,” Erin countered.

~That would be difficult,~ Alice’s mother pointed out. ~You Manifested tonight, and once you’ve rubbed the lamp, it’s hard to put the genie back inside. Even if I helped you to forget all of this, you have abilities now, untrained abilities, and untrained paranormal abilities could be dangerous to you and everyone around you.~ The rest of the ride to my house was spent in silence as both Erin and I considered the Mermaid’s words.

We were all just getting comfortable in my living room. In the light, I was able to get a much better look at the three who had saved us. Jake MacArthur was a tall, skinny man with a swimmer’s physique, a bright shock of shoulder-length red hair, and deep brown eyes. What I had thought was a wetsuit in the dark actually turned out to be some sort of form-fitting body armor, which matched that worn by his wife, Lila. She was tall and slim with violet eyes and long coral-colored hair.

Alice, on the other hand, wore her bright green hair in a short and wild style. Her eyes were bright amber, and the bikini top and wrap she wore were of a similar shade to her hair. She had a lithe and athletic body with a swimmer’s physique, and I couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was now that I was seeing her properly. It was a little hard to take my eyes off her, and I could feel myself flushing as we all got seated, and Erin turned to grin at me. I should never have told her what my type is.

Lydia arrived shortly after we had gotten settled, and I looked up from where I was sitting on a stool and trying not to stare at Alice when I heard the door open. “Now that we’re all here, maybe you can start answering some of my questions, Lydia,” I said once she had joined us.

She got comfortable in one of the armchairs as she nodded grimly in reply. “I’ll answer anything that you want to know, it’s about time you found out about who and what you are.”

“Let’s start with that, then. What exactly am I?” I asked.

“You have mixed blood,” she replied. “Your father was a half-Demon, and your mother claimed to be a Valkyrie. Mixed Paranormals often have a lot of complications, as a result of the blending of the different physiologies and inherent magical qualities. Almost half suffer from some sort of physical deformities when they Manifest, and close to twenty percent are born Manifested like you were instead of Manifesting during puberty like most other humanoid Paranormals.”

That sent me for a mental loop, and I found myself blinking in surprise as I asked in a stunned and barely audible voice, “I was born this way?”

She nodded slowly. “Your mother was a powerful user of Divine magic. She wanted you to be able to live a normal childhood and come into your abilities during puberty, like other Paranormals. So, she decided to place a seal on you not long after you were born, and she planned to break the seal when you were in your teens.”

“Why did the seal break tonight if she wasn’t here to break it?” I asked.

Lydia nodded again before continuing her explanation. “As I said, she intended to break the seal when you were sixteen, but she always took precautions. She was worried that Baerahn’s cronies might come after you someday, and she knew that if that happened, you’d only be able to protect yourself if you had your abilities, so she rigged the seal to break if you were ever attacked by a Demon.”

It seemed like every question I got answered was leading to more questions. “Who is this Baerahn, and why is my blood so important to him?”

“Baerahn is an Archdemon with a lot of followers and a mad-on for humans,” she explained. “Seventeen years ago, he tried to bring a Demon army into our world, and a PDA Hunter team was sent to seal him before he could do that. That team was led by your parents. I helped them get close to him, but then everything went south. Their entire team was dead or dying, but before your mother succumbed to her wounds, she was able to form a powerful seal using the blood of Baehran’s own son. Only the blood of Baehran’s family line can be used to break that seal.”

“Why the hell are his people after me then?” The irony of that phrase was not lost on me.

There was a heavy silence before Lydia replied, “Remember how I told you that your father was a half-Demon? He was Baehran’s son.”

“Well, if Gramps wants me so bad, why doesn’t he come after me himself?” I asked, crossing my arms in annoyance.

~There are two types of seals,~ Lila MacArthur explained. ~The first type is a minor seal like the one used on you; we also use it to permanently seal the special abilities and magic of less dangerous Paranormal criminals. This essentially makes them no different than a normal human. The other type of seal is a full seal, which seals the Paranormal being itself in a pocket dimension. We use full seals on criminals too powerful for minor seals to affect. The type of seal that your mother used on Baehran was a full seal. His followers need your blood to break that seal and return him to this plane.~

“And just what makes this house so safe from his followers?” I muttered, “We don’t even have a security system.”

“When you were born, your mother placed powerful wards against Demons on this house and the property. Demons have no chance of getting past the wards that she put up. Your mother made sure that only three beings with Demon blood could get past these wards: your father, me, and you.”

“You’re a Demon?” I gaped at my long-time caregiver, not willing to equate the sweet old woman who had raised me with something like that.

“My real name is Lydaethilia,” she explained. “I’m an Imp, a minor form of Demon, and I am bound to serve you and your descendants until my death.”

“Bound? Do you mean you’re a slave?” Did that mean she only stuck by me and cared for me because she had no choice?

The Imp got out of her chair and knelt before me, taking my hand in a firm but reassuring grip. “I am bound by my own choice and my blood. I swore a life oath to your father and all his descendants when he stopped Baehran from killing me. Nick was the bravest man that I have ever known. Before they sealed Baehran, Nick and Siv ordered me to stay hidden and to leave when it was safe to care for and protect you if they didn’t make it out alive. I would have died for them. I kept you here to keep you safe because I wasn’t powerful enough to protect you out there. Imps are shapeshifters and spies, not bodyguards. I have been watching you in various forms since you started school, ready to call the PDA if you got into any trouble. You are the most important thing in the world to me.”

“I’m s-sorry,” I sniffled as tears stung my eyes and I buried my face in her shoulder. “I left without any thought of how it was going to hurt you, I thought that I knew what I needed better than you.”

“You’re grown up, Raven; you needed your own life. I couldn’t keep this from you forever.” She held me tight and whispered soothingly that everything was okay until I stopped crying. She seemed to sense when I stopped and pulled away to ask, “Do you have any other questions?”

I thought back on the events from earlier before nodding. “Why did the Demons panic so badly when the seal on me broke?”

Lydia grinned from ear to ear and let out a chuckle. “They were minor Demons, little more than errand boys. You are the product of a Valkyrie and Baehran’s son. Mixed abilities are unpredictable, but if you are anything like either of your parents, then at full power, you would have wiped the floor with them.”

I frowned at the idea of being related to such an evil Demon. “If he’s so bad, why didn’t they just kill him?”

Jake MacArthur mirrored my frown as he replied, “Demons are resilient bastards. Archdemons are especially hard to kill, and even if they had, his followers would have likely just collected his black soul and placed it in a new vessel.”

I sat there for a time going over everything in my mind, trying to think of more important questions to ask, when Erin asked what was quite possibly the most important question of all. “What happens to us now?”

~Neither of you can return to school right now,~ Lila warned. ~Baehran’s followers will still be after Raven, probably in greater numbers, and they will be after you as well, Erin. You stood up to them tonight and lived to tell the tale, and that’s probably pissed them off since they saw you as just another human. They also know that you’re close to Raven, which will give them even more incentive to get to you. Right now, you’re both in danger if you leave this house without protection.~

“Not that I could leave the house anyway, looking like this,” I grumbled. Not only did I have the wings to worry about, but also my fangs and inch-long black claws in place of my fingernails and toenails.

“True, we’ll need to find a way for you to hide those wings of yours,” Jake put in. “You and Erin will need to be taught more about the paranormal world as well.”

Lydia shrugged. “Nick and Siv could both hide their more unique features and appear human, it’s common among Demons, and I don’t know much about Valkyries, but Siv seemed to do it naturally as well. I would imagine that Raven has that ability to some degree. I would teach her, but Imp shapeshifting is different; we have no set form like the rest of you, and our shifting is closer to magical transformation than to actually changing shape. Also, staying in a specific shape for long periods is uncomfortable for us.”

~I could try to teach Raven how we Merfolk shift our tails into legs,~ Alice offered. ~The basic idea is the same, and it might work for her to be able to retract her wings.~

“We have a spare bedroom if you want to stay here while you teach me,” I replied, my heart fluttering at the thought, “though you and I or Erin and I might have to share a room unless one of you doesn’t mind taking the attic.”

“The attic is fine with me as long as there’s a bed or a semi-comfortable sofa,” Erin offered pleasantly. “My room was in the attic back home, so I’m used to it. Is there anything that we’ll need to do other than stay here and try to keep safe while Raven learns to hide those wings?”

“We’ll have agents go to collect your things from your dorm rooms and come up with a cover story for why you’re leaving school. We can work out the details on that tomorrow morning,” Jake said. “We’ll need to bring you to the local PDA headquarters anyway to get your documentation sorted out, run some tests on the two of you, and figure out what you’re capable of. That way, we can find out what you’ll need to do to learn to control your abilities. We can have a truck come by with your possessions, and some of the things Alice will need while she’s here in the evening. We’ll also try to keep a few agents watching the house, in case Baehran’s followers get clever and try to send something other than Demons after you.”

“That all sounds good,” I said, trying to stifle a yawn, “but how do you expect to get me to this headquarters of yours without being seen?”

~We’ll send Alice in a delivery van with tinted windows,~ Lila offered. ~You can ride in the back, and when you get there, she can pull up to the rear entrance.~ Her eyes closed for several seconds, and then she smiled. ~The other two members of our team are outside and in position to watch the house while you sleep. Now that they’re here, we will leave for the night and start making the necessary arrangements. Try to get some rest, girls, you’ll both have a busy day tomorrow.~

“I’ll try to, but what if that asshole tries to get into my dreams again?” I asked uncertainly.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Lydia assured me. “The wards should prevent any intrusion like that from Demons.”

Our three rescuers took their leave for the evening after that, leaving Erin and me alone with Lydia. I had more questions that I wanted to ask the Imp, but Erin and I were both exhausted from our encounter and what followed. I remembered her leading us upstairs and Erin to the guest room, but nothing after that as I quickly fell asleep.

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 5: Changes

As exhausted as I was, my sleep was broken. I kept getting my wings tangled in the sheets, lying on top of one, or finding a dozen other ways in which having a nearly twelve-foot wingspan could make for an uncomfortable sleep, especially in a smallish bedroom. At some point during the night, I threw off my covers and lay on my side. In that position, with my wings spread out behind me, I finally managed to sleep until the smell of coffee and frying bacon woke me.

I sat up in bed and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes, ignoring the protests from my stomach. There was a kink in my back from my various awkward sleeping positions during the night, and I stretched in an attempt to work it out. This, of course, caused my wings to unfurl and knock the lamp from my nightstand and several items off my desk, sending them to the floor with a crash. I heard hurried movement in the guest room across the hall, and a moment later, my door was thrown open to reveal Erin, still clad in the white mini dress from the night before and wearing a look of concern on her face. “Raven, are you okay?!” she blurted out as she looked at me from the doorway.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied tiredly while trying to give her a reassuring smile. “I’m just not used to these yet and knocked over my lamp. How are you this morning?”

“I guess I’m okay. I was a little confused when I woke up in a strange room, though. I would ask if last night really happened, but I can already see the answer to that question.” She came into the room properly then and sat on the foot of my bed. “How do they feel? Are they heavy?”

I shrugged, causing the appendages in question to move again. “They’re not really heavy,” I admitted after a moment’s thought. “It’s more because I’m not used to having the weight there, and it’s throwing off my balance a bit. They feel weird, kind of like having an extra pair of arms that I have no idea how to use. They’re kinda sensitive too.”

“Could I… touch them?” she asked before looking quickly away in what appeared to be embarrassment. “Never mind, you probably don’t even want to think about them right now, let alone have people pawing at them.”

“It’s kinda hard to ignore them, and I think I’m probably going to have them for the rest of my life, so I should probably try to get used to them.” I attempted another smile as I scooched across the bed to move closer to her, took her hand, and raised it to my right wing. “You’re my best friend, Erin. It's okay if you’re curious, I know that I would be if our positions were reversed.”

As I let go of her hand, she tentatively touched the black feathers. Uncertain, she looked to me for approval, and when I nodded, the tentative touch became a soft caress as she said in awe, “They’re so soft.” I shivered at the caress, and she quickly pulled her hand away. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine; it just feels weird having someone touch them. It’s kind of like a shiver running down my spine, but it’s not my spine.”

We sat there for a moment in silence as she stared at my wings and gently moved her hands along one. Suddenly, she broke out into a fit of giggles and said, “I guess your name is more appropriate than I thought.” I stared at her in confusion, wondering what exactly had set her off. It must have shown on my face because she was quick to explain. “Sorry, Raven. Do you remember when we first met, and I told you that I was trying to see Raven in you?”

I nodded slowly. “You said that everyone sees him differently because he’s a reflection of ourselves or something, and none of our friends could see me as a mischievous and selfish lecher. I may have the wings for it now, but I don’t think anything has changed up here,” I said, tapping my forehead.

“No, I think you’re still the same girl you were before, just with a few new additions. I also said that some people saw him as a magician, creator, and transformer, and you have been transformed by magic in a way.” She sighed as she stood up, suddenly serious. “We’re in over our heads right now, Raven. We both need to learn as much as we can and soon.”

“Hopefully, those PDA people can help us with that. Maybe they can get a Shaman to teach you,” I suggested hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. “I doubt it. Grandfather told me that Shamans of different tribes are usually competitive with one another, and they don’t trust outsiders. They don’t share their secrets with anyone but their successors. Hopefully, I can learn what I need to from my grandfather’s journals.”

“Where are the journals?” I asked as I tucked in my wings as best I could, got off my bed, and walked to my closet.

“Do you remember that old chest at the foot of my bed?” she asked. When I nodded, she went on to add, “Everything that my grandfather left me when he died last year is in that chest.”

“Good, that means you can start studying as soon as they bring our stuff here. Let’s find something to wear. I didn’t leave many clothes here when I left for school; it’s mostly summer stuff, but hopefully, we can find something that works. I don’t know about you, but I never want to see these costumes again.”

We managed to find a hunter-green ankle-length skirt and a cream-colored blouse that fit Erin fairly well, while I opted for a pair of tight jeans and an aquamarine halter top that didn’t bother my wings too much. Once we were dressed, we left my room and headed downstairs to the kitchen. The house didn’t have a dining room, but the open kitchen with its sky-blue painted walls and pine cupboards was just big enough for the round wooden table and its four matching chairs to fit comfortably and not be in the way while cooking.

Lydia was setting the table for breakfast as we arrived. “You two are just in time, breakfast is ready, and the MacArthurs just phoned to let us know that Alice should be here with the van in half an hour or so. I was about to come and wake you. How did you sleep?”

“I had some bad dreams, but the bed was very comfortable, thank you,” Erin replied.

“I was too tired to dream, I think,” I put in. “It was nice not to have nightmares for once. When I finally found a position that was comfortable for my wings, I slept like a log.” I took my seat at the table and looked at the breakfast in front of me with a smile. “Thanks, Lydia, you always make a great breakfast.” Erin sat down to my right while Lydia sat across from me, and we all ate in silence for a while, except for the occasional glass of juice breaking because I had gripped it too hard.

We were cleaning up after breakfast when I could finally stay silent no longer about something that Lydia had mentioned the night before. “You said last night that Imps get uncomfortable staying in a specific form for a long time?” I asked.

The Imp nodded. “Yes, dear, we get uncomfortable staying in specific forms for lengthy periods, though most of us have a type of form we prefer over others and that we are relatively comfortable in. It’s sort of a signature form, it’s never exactly the same twice, but usually with similar age, gender, species, and other variables.”

“Is that your preferred type of form?” I pressed. When she shook her head, I frowned at her. “You don’t need to pretend to be my elderly nanny anymore if it’s uncomfortable for you; I want you to be free to be yourself at home.”

“You might find my preferred form difficult to adjust to,” she said haltingly, with a slight shake of her head.

“You do realize that is only going to make us want to see it even more, don’t you?” Erin stated between bites of toast. “So, what is it? Some kind of Demon? Alien? Talking Platypus? Don’t leave us hanging here.”

Lydia rolled her eyes but raised her hands in surrender. “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” Her features became fluid, and she seemed to shrink until finally, the flesh-colored blob resolved itself into an adorable little girl in a denim romper over a white t-shirt. She was maybe six or seven years old with big blue eyes, and her blonde hair was tied up in pigtails. Prominently displayed on the front of the romper in a white circle was a red hand displaying its middle finger; it was the last thing I had expected.

Apparently, Erin felt the same way. She just stared for a moment before finally managing to utter, “I… I think that you broke my brain.”

Little girl Lydia giggled and grinned at us. “I told you so.”

I think what threw me the most was that I knew this girl, and it made a lot of things suddenly make sense. “Lilly?” I asked in stunned awe. She looked too much like my childhood playmate for it to be any sort of coincidence. “But… she moved away when I was seven, and I never saw her again.”

Lydia looked down at the table and let out a weary sigh. “You won’t remember this, Raven, but when you were seven, one of your grandfather’s lackeys almost caught you and broke your seal. We were playing and left the safety of the wards. I was afraid I was going to lose you that day, so I felt it best not to risk it again, and so Lilly ‘moved away’, and I became more protective after that. You were very upset by the incident, and Alice’s mother, Lila, used her true voice to make you forget so you could have a normal childhood without knowing about Demons until you were ready.”

The meal was quiet after that while I tried to process what I had just been told as we all returned to eating breakfast. After a while, though, Lydia explained what would be happening next. “When you leave with Alice in the delivery van, her parents and the rest of their team will follow you in another vehicle while I keep watch from the air. In case of trouble, I’ve placed cans of para-mace in your purses as a last resort.”

“Para-mace?” I asked. “And how did you manage to get our purses? We forgot them at the party last night in all the confusion. I wouldn’t have been able to get into the house last night if I hadn’t remembered where we keep the spare key.”

“When I went to pick up your car last night, I went into the party disguised as you, to get your purses and tell your roommate that you and Erin were leaving,” she explained. “I couldn’t copy you perfectly, but it was good enough to fool a bunch of drunk university students. As for para-mace, it's like pepper spray, but for use against some of the nastier Paranormals; Vampires, Demons, Gremlins, rabid Werewolves, and the like. It contains garlic, vervain, sea salt, silver nitrate, holy water, and wolfsbane, and it’s enchanted with Divine magic to give it a little extra kick. It won’t do any permanent harm, but it hurts like hell to anything aligned with Death magic.”

“I’m part Demon, Lydia,” I pointed out. “What if I’m aligned to Death magic?”

“Try not to use the mace unless you have to,” she replied with a shrug. “Hopefully, today we’ll find out more about you, and that should give the PDA a baseline to work from.”

It was then that the doorbell rang. After looking through the peephole and making sure it was Alice, I opened the door to let her in. She was dressed in black leather combat boots, torn jeans, and a T-shirt displaying a heavy metal band logo with a black leather vest over top and a matching studded choker. Between that outfit, the piercings in her ears and eyebrow, her amber eyes, and wild green hair, she had a decidedly punk look that made my heart do strange things and fueled a warmth in my belly. “That’s… umm… a good look on you,” I rasped as I took her in, my throat suddenly dry.

Alice smiled at me as she waited by the door, damn she had such a nice smile. ~When you have green hair and golden eyes, people don’t give it another thought if you’re dressed like this. It sure beats dying my hair and wearing contacts.~

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Erin agreed as she handed me my purse, snapping me out of a daze. She already had hers in hand.

I nodded in agreement as I took a cautious peek out the front door. A worn-looking beige van was backed up to the garage door, as close to the house as Alice could manage, and I could see displayed on the side in faded lettering, Werehouse Imports and Exports. I quickly checked to make sure my keys were in my purse as we headed for the door that connected the house itself to the garage. They were there, and so was an unfamiliar metal can that I assumed was the para-mace Lydia had mentioned.

Feeling about as ready as I felt I was going to be, I led us into the garage and opened the door so the three of us could head out. “Werehouse… Funny name,” Erin said with a chuckle as she passed the van on the passenger side. “I wonder if it was intentional, or if it was just a typo and they ran with it.”

~It was intentional,~ Alice supplied with a grin as she opened the rear doors of the van for me. ~The founder of the company that the PDA uses as a front was a Werewolf. He figured that if we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at?~ Once Erin had determined that nobody was looking our way, I quickly jumped inside the van through the open rear doors. When I was fully inside and settled on some cushions with my wings clear of the doors, Alice closed the doors behind me, and she and Erin made their way into the front seats.

The drive to the PDA headquarters was long and uneventful. We wound our way through the streets of the south shore of False Creek, over the Cambie Street Bridge, and then through downtown Vancouver until we reached our destination on the waterfront. The large warehouse was near the docks, with an attached office building and a sign matching the faded lettering on the van. “I have to admit, this is the last place I would look for a covert government agency,” I said as Alice backed the van up to the delivery entrance.

~The warehouse itself and the first floor of the office building are exactly what they appear to be,~ Alice’s musical mind voice noted as she turned off the engine. ~It’s a fairly profitable import/export business from what I’m told. In its official capacity, this warehouse and the office employ a large number of Paranormals, as well as normies who are in the loop. Also, some of the ‘imports’ are unusual or hard-to-find items that Paranormals need to live somewhat normal lives, or equipment for the PDA itself.~

“I guess the PDA uses the upper floors for the covert stuff then?” Erin asked uncertainly.

The Mermaid shrugged as she replied, ~Yes and no. The remaining floors are for PDA business. All registration and government services are located on the second floor, the third floor is dedicated to counseling and medical services, and the fourth floor is for helping Paranormals find employment and homes suited to their needs. The fourth floor is also where they recruit specialized Paranormals for emergency work. The real covert stuff, policing Paranormals and damage control when the normies see something they shouldn’t, goes on downstairs. There is a large complex beneath the warehouse and office building that contains the policing department, as well as training facilities, and special equipment for the PDA Hunters.~

Erin and Alice opened their doors and came around to the back to open the rear doors and ushered me into the busy warehouse. The Mermaid’s parents appeared to fall into step with us and guided us through the crates, workers, and occasional forklifts to a side door that led to the attached office building. That door led out to a small empty room, with only another door leading to the rest of the first floor and an elevator. Lila pressed the button for the elevator, and we all climbed inside, where she then swiped a key card and pressed the button for the basement level one.

“Normally, we have new Paranormals go upstairs to meet with our doctors and counselors and to get registered,” Alice’s father said, “but since you’re a special case, I’ve gotten the Chief’s permission to get it all done downstairs where things are a bit more secure. Only PDA Agents with key cards, or those accompanied by them, are allowed downstairs, and there are powerful wards against any sort of magical intrusion or extra-planar travel.”

“Umm… thanks… I think,” I responded uncertainly as I felt us begin to go down.

Once we were downstairs, we were led to an office with four desks, each with a computer, and one of which had various papers strewn across it. Alice’s father continued to explain, “Almost this entire floor is offices and the crime labs. The training facilities are downstairs, and we’ll take you there later to test you for any abilities and magic potential. This is our team’s office; I thought that you both would be more comfortable discussing things here until we get to the testing.”

“Is Alice part of your team, too?” Erin asked.

The Mermaid in question shook her head. ~No, but I do want to join a Hunter team someday, so I’m sort of a trainee. Also, Mom and Dad thought you both might be more comfortable with someone your age who has been through a sudden Manifestation. I only Manifested last year when I was eighteen. Usually, Merfolk Manifest between eleven and fourteen years old, when puberty starts. I had pretty much given up on it happening and planned on going to college. Then it happened while I was swimming with some human friends at the beach one night. We had to get a PDA Psychic in to rewrite their memories about me. I couldn’t really hang around my old normie friends anymore, they were not in the loop about Paranormals, and there would be too many questions about how I lost my voice and my sudden change in style.~

“I’m sorry that it had to happen to you that way,” I offered sympathetically to the now despondent-looking Mermaid, “but it’s nice to know that we’re not alone in this.”

“Yup, misery loves company and all that,” Erin agreed, putting an arm around both me and Alice.

Erin and I both got a photo taken and then took a seat while Alice helped us with the paperwork for our PDA registration cards, which we would be issued later in the day. While we were filling those out, we discussed with the MacArthurs the cover story the PDA would use when it went to collect our belongings. The plan we finally came up with was for two agents to go in, posing as Lydia and a mover. The one posing as Lydia would be a psychic, and she would telepathically reinforce the story they would give in the minds of our friends, deal with administration, and handle any other unexpected difficulties.

The story that the one posing as Lydia would tell our friends was that I had had a nervous breakdown and decided to quit school and go somewhere to get away from it all. That probably wouldn’t be all that surprising, given my nightmares recently and how I had suddenly fled the party. Erin had suggested her family cabin in the woods on Haida Gwaii and offered to stay with me until I was feeling better, with the idea that we could both return to school next year.

After that, Lydia sent us out on the first flight she could find and hired a mover to retrieve our things from the dorms. Erin and I also wrote handwritten notes to our respective roommates to add to the believability. It was hard for us to write those notes, hell this whole plan was hard to accept, but we also knew that it was necessary if we didn’t want our friends getting accidentally dragged into all this paranormal bullshit.

Once our story was set and the agents were on their way, one of the PDA psychological team was brought in to talk with us and see how we were coping. I found myself liking Dr. Maher immediately. The short and slightly chubby man with curly brown hair and brown eyes seemed very laid back and, dressed as he was in blue jeans and a simple emerald-colored t-shirt, seemed to prefer being comfortable to wearing a suit just to look professional.

Dr. Maher had a way of putting me at ease, and there was no doubt that he cared about his patients. When I mentioned that, he told me that Empaths can’t help but care about how others feel. Overall, he thought we were both adjusting as well as could be expected under the circumstances, but he advised us that he and other counselors were available on the third floor if we ever felt that we needed somebody to talk to. He also gave us his business card with his phone number and email address, in case we felt that need.

When Dr. Maher was finished with us, the MacArthurs escorted us to the crime labs and medical area, where a slim woman with greying brown hair and glasses was apparently waiting for us. She was dressed in a medium-length black skirt and powder-blue blouse with a lab coat over top, and she looked up from her computer as we entered and smiled, her eyes settling right on me. “Ah! You must be Nick and Siv’s daughter! I’d recognize those wings anywhere!” She hopped off her stool and slithered over to enthusiastically shake my hand. I thought at first that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but there was definitely a snake’s tail under that skirt instead of legs.

Noticing the direction of my stare, the woman chuckled good-naturedly. “Forgive me, dear, I forgot that you must be new to all of this. It gets uncomfortable maintaining a human form all the time, so a lot of us here work in our natural forms if possible, unless we’re out on an assignment.” She seemed to grow taller as her tail split, brown scales fading to the natural olive color of her skin as the two halves of her tail became legs.

“I am never going to get used to that,” Erin muttered beside me.

Jake laughed at that but assured us, “You will in time, but it does take a while. Girls, I would like you to meet Dr. Sylvia Jennings. Sylvia, as you guessed, this is Raven Demarco and her friend, Erin Ross.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Jennings. Did you know my parents?” I asked as I thought over what she had said.

“As well as I’ve known any of the Hunters working here,” she replied. “I’m the one who patches up all the injuries our people get out in the field. I never had to do much with your parents, though. Siv was pretty resilient, and Nick had that Demon regeneration of his.”

I hoped that this woman could tell me at least a little about my parents. “You said that you recognized my wings. Did one of my parents have wings like this?”

“Don’t be silly, your mother’s wings were white,” the doctor answered with a casual laugh. “I recognize your wings because I was there when you were born. Let me tell you, those wings, even though they were relatively small at the time, did not make your birth easy for poor Siv. She took it like a champ, though. She had a feeling that you were Manifested in the womb, and she knew that meant there was a possibility that you had wings, but she still delivered you naturally.”

Dr. Jennings then took me to the examination room and had me undress and change into a paper gown. Once I was changed and sitting on the examining table, she came into the room with a clipboard. “I’m going to give you a brief physical, and once I’m done with you, Jake and Lila will take you downstairs for more thorough testing while I examine your friend. I usually use this room to patch up injured Hunters, but I have everything that I’ll need here to examine you.” I nodded mutely and let her get to work.

She began with all the usual stuff: reflexes, blood pressure, breathing, heart rate, and checking the eyes, ears, and mouth. After finishing the gynecological exam, she went on to ask if I had been having any troubles or if anything had felt wrong since the seal had broken, other than having wings. The only thing that I could really think of was the fact that I didn’t seem to know my own strength. I had shattered three glasses at breakfast that morning, just trying to pick them up for a drink, and considered myself very fortunate that I hadn’t cut my hand or something. I had also snapped more than a dozen pens in half while trying to fill out my PDA paperwork before Alice took over writing for me.

Finally, the Lamia finished the examination, well, most of it, and smiled at me. “Well, Raven, you seem to be in very good health. Your canines are larger and sharper than a normal human’s, but that’s not too surprising given your mixed physiology. I’m also concerned about your weight; you’re about 20 kilos heavier than you should be at your size, even taking your wings into account. Now, I’m going to try to take some blood, so we can run some tests on it. I want to make sure that you don’t have any genetic defects due to your mixed parentage.”

“I hate needles,” I muttered and closed my eyes as she moved the offending object toward my arm.

“Well, I guess that’s one question answered,” I heard the doctor mutter. I opened my eyes to see that the needle she was holding was bent. “Damn, that was one of my good tungsten needles. Just a moment, Raven, I’ll need to find one of my enchanted ones.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked as she searched through a metal cabinet.

“Your skin is too tough for the needle to penetrate,” the doctor replied as she found what she was looking for in a drawer and turned back to me. “It’s not surprising; Siv’s skin couldn’t be penetrated by much except enchanted weapons. The only times I ever saw her in here were when there was magic involved or some sort of internal injury like broken bones or a concussion.” She jabbed me with the new needle and managed to get it to pierce my skin.

When she figured she had enough blood, she pulled out the needle and carefully watched the wound. “Hmmm,” she murmured, “I need to test something else. This might sting a bit, but I’m going to use one of my enchanted scalpels to make a small incision in your upper arm. Is that alright with you? You can close your eyes if it makes it easier.” I nodded my consent and closed my eyes tightly. A moment later, I felt a sharp sting in my arm followed by a tingling sensation. When I finally opened my eyes, Dr. Jennings was wiping a little bit of blood off my arm with a disinfectant wipe. “It seems that you got something from your father other than those claws and teeth after all.”

I looked over my unmarked arm in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Most Demons have a form of high-speed regeneration, it's part of what makes them so difficult to kill, their wounds heal very quickly. Your father had it, and it seems that you do too. I don’t think that you heal quite as fast as Nick did, or full-blooded Demons do, but it’s pretty damn close. That, combined with your mother’s hard skin, is going to make you damn hard for anything to hurt or kill.”

I gaped at the older woman in shock. “Are you saying I’m indestructible?”

The question caused Dr. Jennings to laugh as she replied, “Hardly. Your parents both shared a vulnerability to magic and enchanted weapons. There are probably quite a few things that can hurt you, and I doubt, even with that regeneration, you’d live through something like decapitation. Still, you’ll be able to take quite a bit of damage if my guess is right. And as sharp and strong as Demon claws tend to be, you should be able to give as good as you get.”

“Oh,” I replied, not sure whether I was relieved or disappointed. “Are there any other tests you need to do?”

“No, I think I’ve got everything that I need from you. You can get changed while I take this blood sample to the boys in the lab for analysis. Please send Erin in on your way out and ask her to get changed into a gown.” She smiled at me as she turned and left, closing the door behind her.

Once I was back in my clothes and Erin was in the room awaiting her exam, the MacArthurs led me back to the elevator, where we went down to the sub-basement. ~This may take a while,~ Lila said to her husband as we stopped at a door to the right. ~Did you want to take Alice to the shooting range for a bit? It’s a good chance for her to get some practice in.~

Jake nodded. “True, we don’t all need to be in there, and Alice and I don’t get to practice together much. We’ll come to join you once we get tired of putting holes in things. Come on, Alice; let’s see if you’ve improved any since last time.”

~Sure, Dad, that sounds like fun.~ She turned and waved as she and her father went further down the hallway. ~Good luck, Raven.~

I found myself a little disheartened that she wouldn’t be coming in there with me, probably because I felt like she could understand what I was going through, but I waved back. “See you later, Alice.” It was probably for the best anyway, since I found that my eyes kept being drawn toward the pretty Mermaid, and she might end up being a distraction while I was being tested if she did join us.

I turned my attention back to her mother instead of watching Alice walk away down the hall like I really wanted to. Lila opened the door and held it open for me with a smile as she said, ~Let’s go see what you’re made of.~

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 6: Testing

The training room was very large, with high ceilings and an indoor running track along the outer edge. In the center of the track, there was gymnastics equipment, various weights and workout equipment I didn’t know the names of, and a large area with mats on the floor that I assumed was some sort of sparring area, judging by the padded equipment and wooden practice dummies. It was there that a tall silver-haired man, perhaps in his mid to late fifties and wearing a charcoal grey suit, waited for us.

Lila led me straight to the man and immediately introduced us. ~Raven, I would like you to meet our resident magic expert, Peter Grayson. Peter, this is Raven Demarco, one of the two challenges that we have for you today.~

The man chuckled and shook my offered hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Raven, but I’m afraid that what Lila just said is a bit misleading. Saying I’m a magic expert makes it sound like I have magic of my own at my disposal. I am not a Mage, and I have no magic of my own whatsoever. However, I will be able to help determine what magic you and your friend may have.”

I let go of his hand after giving it a gentle shake, actually letting him do most of the gripping, and didn’t put much into my own grasp so I wouldn’t accidentally crush his hand or something. I was wondering what exactly he meant by what he said, though, and asked, “Don’t you need to have magic to know about it?”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, generally, you do need to have some inherent magic or magical ability to know as much about magic as I do. I have what we call Mage-sight. When I entered puberty, I started to see strange things, and some people and things seemed to be covered in colored lights. I came from a family of normal humans, and at first, my parents thought that I had some sort of mental disorder. They took me to a lot of different doctors. One of those doctors was a Mage who discovered my gift and put me in touch with the PDA to train it. I can’t use magic, but I can see it in a way that magic users can’t. I can see spells, auras, and magical creatures for what they really are, and I sense things about the nature of people and things, especially those connected to magic or the Paranormal.”

“I guess that must be pretty useful,” I responded.

He winked at me before admitting, “To be honest, more often than not, it’s a huge pain in the ass, but it does help me to earn a ridiculous government salary.”

I decided that I liked this man and his sense of humor. “So, what do you sense from me then?”

He stared at me for several minutes, appearing to be deep in thought. “I knew your parents, and I can see that you’ve gained something from both of them, but you appear to be aligned to the Divine element only. It’s somewhat surprising since Nick’s father was an Archdemon and his mother was a Death Mage. However, I don’t sense any talent for magic from you.”

“So, I can’t learn how to use magic then?” I asked with a sigh. It was strange to feel so disappointed about something that I wouldn’t be able to do, something that I only learned was real last night.

“You could probably learn Divine magic, but it would take a lot of work and study, and it is unlikely that you have the power and talent to learn much more than parlor tricks,” he told me sympathetically before letting out a sigh of his own. “It’s a shame; your mother was truly gifted with Divine magic, possibly the most powerful I’ve ever met. There is something in you, though, a Divine ability, but I can’t determine its nature. It’s similar to something I sensed from her while she was alive, but different as well. It could be something inherent to Valkyries, but your mother never talked about her people much, let alone their abilities, other than to say that they were warriors.”

“I guess that’s more than I knew before,” I said with a shrug.

“I wish that I could tell you more,” he replied, looking genuinely disappointed. “You may not be talented with magic, but I believe that you have inherited some inherent magical abilities from your parents. We will test you for all the abilities that they were known to have, just to be safe. Have you noticed anything yourself?”

I shook my head as I responded, “Aside from my wings’ ability to get in the way whenever it’s least convenient and not knowing my own strength, no. You might want to put my father’s regeneration and my mother’s resistance to sharp pointy things in the yes column, though, Dr. Jennings discovered those earlier.”

“That does shorten the list,” Peter replied with a pensive smile. “Your mother could fly, and I think that it is more than likely that you can as well, or else why would you have such an impressive set of wings?”

“I’m beginning to think they’re here just to annoy me, “I retorted, “that or for comic relief.”

“As good as those reasons are, let’s see if we can find a practical use for them,” he suggested with a smile. “Perhaps they would be less annoying that way. Can you control them? Try spreading them for me, please.”

“I just got them last night, and I’ve been trying to get them to obey my commands ever since,” I muttered. Still, I did as he asked and tried focusing on them, thinking of them as another pair of arms, but I just couldn’t seem to get them to do anything. It was like giving hands to a snake and telling it to play the piano, my brain just didn’t seem to have a proper frame of reference to work from. I spent twenty minutes trying to get them to do something, anything, consciously, but I was still trying when Dr. Jennings brought Erin in to join us.

“Maybe we should wait until you’re more used to them before we try flying,” Peter offered. “I see that your friend is here. Let’s see what I can make of her, and then we’ll test your physical limits.”

It turned out that Erin was connected to the spirit world as Jake had suspected. The mist cat that had materialized when we were attacked was a physical representation of Erin’s spirit animal, the lynx, that Peter called an avatar. She could summon this avatar at will, but it required her to push her consciousness into it to have it do anything. The downside to this was that it left her body extremely vulnerable while her consciousness was elsewhere. Peter also believed that she could speak with and command cats, well, as much as anyone can tell a cat what to do.

“So basically, I’m the crazy cat lady,” Erin joked.

Peter smiled but only replied, “I sense that you should be able to do more with spirits, but we will have to hope that you can find some way of discovering exactly what. Currently, we have nobody qualified to teach you.”

“Well, at least I have a starting point,” my friend said before sighing. “I really hope that Grandfather’s journals have something useful in them. Otherwise, this will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack while blindfolded and wearing oven mitts.”

Still feeling a bit disheartened by my inability to even consciously use my wings, let alone fly, I nodded in agreement as I agreed, “I know exactly how you feel.” Then I turned back to Peter and looked toward the training area at the center of the room. “You mentioned something about testing our physical limits? Maybe we can find something I can do.”

Once we had gotten changed into some workout clothes that Lila provided us with, Peter, Dr. Jennings, and Lila spent the next several hours attempting to push us to our limits, and beyond, in every physical test that they could conceive of. Erin’s physical abilities didn’t seem to have changed much from before she Manifested. Her strength, speed, and stamina were all normal for a human girl her age in decent physical shape. It wasn’t until she started on the gymnastics equipment that our testers found anything unusual physically. Erin was able to do things on the balance beam and some of the other equipment that some professional gymnasts would have trouble with. Her agility, reflexes, flexibility, and sense of balance were all way above average.

My testing wasn’t quite as revealing as Erin’s in those areas. We weren’t able to test my balance or agility very accurately because I was still getting used to having wings, and it kept throwing me off. In fact, it was making it hard to get an accurate measure of any of my attributes. My stamina proved to be well above average while at a run, and the consensus was that this was because I would need it for flying. Dr. Jennings believed that once I actually learned to fly, I would burn energy a lot faster and need to eat more often. Running had also revealed that I was faster than normal, but whether this was my strength fueling my speed or something inherent to Valkyries was inconclusive.

My reflexes also seemed to be well above normal, and again, the consensus was that it was needed for flight. Dr. Jennings said that the shape and size of my wings indicated that they were built for maneuverability and speed, thus the need for good reflexes. My claws, both those on my fingers and toes, proved to be very durable. They were also very sharp, sharp enough to leave deep gouges in a steel plate.

Finally, we tested my strength, and we were all in for a surprise there. My mother had been strong, but nobody knew how strong since she tended not to reveal much about herself, outside what was needed on the job. Demon strength is nothing to sneeze at either, and even as only a half-Demon, my father was quite a bit stronger than the average human. When we tested my strength, I hadn’t even started to feel any strain yet when we ran out of weight to add.

“Are you sure you’re reading that right?” I asked Dr. Jennings in disbelief.

The doctor nodded, looking as stunned as I felt. “I’m sure, Raven. You’re bench pressing close to two metric tons. I think that the extra weight we noticed may be due to denser bones and muscles, or else you’d break or pull something under the strain of trying to lift something that heavy, let alone hit something with that kind of strength. I don’t know whether it’s the Demon influence, the Valkyrie, or the mix of both. What I do know, is that I don’t want to be the person to piss you off.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to need to remember to pull my punches. No wonder I sent that Demon flying last night and have been breaking things all day.” I stood up and stretched as I looked at Dr. Jennings and her ever-present clipboard. “So, is there anything else you need me to do? I’m starting to get hungry.”

“Since we don’t know any of your mother’s abilities other than those we have already tried or confirmed in you, we should test you for shapeshifting and various Demon abilities,” Peter suggested. “We know that you have regeneration and some physical features with those teeth and claws, so it’s possible that you may share some of your father’s Demon abilities as well. Most of these abilities are as natural to those of Demon blood as breathing, so we should be able to find out fairly quickly whether you have them or not.”

I wanted to get this over with and eat something, but I also knew that I needed to learn what I could do in case those Demons came back, so I gave in. “Okay, let’s do this. What’s first?”

“Let’s try shapeshifting first,” Dr. Jennings suggested. “We believe that your mother had an ability similar to Mermaids and Lamia, to retract some of our mass and shift the non-human parts of us into something more human. Your father had Demon shapeshifting, which, in addition to making him look human, would allow him to alter his appearance so long as his mass stayed the same. Hopefully, you’ll have one or both. If not, we may need to help you find another way to hide those wings.”

I nodded in agreement, hoping that I had some way of hiding my new features. “What do I do?”

Lila, who had been mostly quietly watching the proceedings until now, gave me an encouraging smile. ~It takes both energy and concentration to shift and retract our mass and to change its appearance the way we do. When I started teaching Alice, I had her start by trying to shift one scale at a time and work her way up to the full shift gradually. I’m going to get you to do something similar. Look at the claw on the thumb of your right hand.~ I held my hand out in front of me and looked at the claw in question as she continued speaking. ~Now picture that claw becoming shorter, pulling inside your thumb, until it’s the length and shape of a regular thumbnail.~

My gaze remained fixed on my right thumb as I concentrated, willing it to pull itself inside me. I was uncertain at first, but it seemed to be working. Finally, my claw had a more nail-like appearance and was roughly the length that I had kept my nails before my change. It was still black, but most people would just think that I was wearing black nail polish. In my excitement at my success, I lost my concentration, and it reverted. “Damn! I had it!”

~Don’t worry; it looks like you have something to work with at least. It will take a while before you can shift and maintain human form without concentration, but all we have to start somewhere,~ the Mermaid offered encouragingly as she put an arm around my shoulders.

“I guess so,” I agreed, feeling a bit disappointed. “So, how do we test for the Demon shapeshifting?” I was hoping that maybe this would be a bit more productive.

“If you have that ability, it should come naturally to you,” Peter replied. “Just think about one of your features and think about how you would like to change it. Your father’s ability made him a great undercover operative. He had dozens of different looks, even with the mass restriction. Try changing your skin tone, it was a favorite of his.”

I looked at my arm and the pale skin on it and concentrated, trying to darken it. I thought of Dr. Jennings and her olive skin, willing mine to match it. I spent several minutes like that, trying to change first my skin tone, then my hair color, and then anything else I could think of, but nothing changed. Finally, Peter put a hand on my shoulder. “I think that’s enough, Raven. If you had the ability, then it would have come naturally. Let’s move on to the other Demon abilities.”

First, they turned out the lights to test me for night vision, and I proved without a doubt that I didn’t have that when I knocked over a good deal of the objects I was supposed to avoid, either with my wings or by walking right into them. Next, we tried the various mental abilities that Demons could possess. They had me try to contact Lydia or the Demon who had led the attack on me telepathically, then they had me try to force my way into Erin’s mind and take control of her.

I was beginning to get frustrated with my lack of success with much of anything when Peter decided to move on to test the next ability. “Don’t worry about it, Raven. It was unlikely that you had the mental abilities. If you had then you would have noticed last night or this morning, and we would probably be teaching you how to keep from picking up other people’s thoughts right now.”

“Why can I hear Lila and Alice speaking telepathically then?” I asked.

~Merfolk are projective and receptive telepaths,~ Lila explained. ~You don’t need to have telepathic abilities to hear us, and we can hear your thoughts if they’re directed at us, so long as we know the person and they are within our telepathic range.~

“Well, I’d really rather not be hearing anyone else’s thoughts anyway,” I replied bitterly. Then, thinking about how that might offend Lila, I quickly corrected myself. “I meant everyday thoughts, not direct speech like you and Alice do.”

~It’s alright, Raven, I knew what you meant.~ She looked at the clipboard Dr. Jennings was holding and frowned. ~Do we really need to test that, Peter? That seems a bit cruel, even with her regenerative ability.~

He sighed and shook his head. “If she’s not, it’s better for her to find out now rather than later. We’ll just do a small area test.”

I looked at the pair uncertainly, my heart fluttering with sudden uncertainty. “Do I want to know what you’re talking about?”

“Most demons are fireproof,” Peter finally said after a long silence.

I stared at him, my eyes wide. “You want to set me on fire?!”

Erin was quick to step between me and the trio. “No way! That is not happening while I’m here.”

Dr. Jennings and Lila weren’t any more enthusiastic about the idea, as they both shook their heads and gave their co-worker a stern look. ~This girl has been through enough in the past day without adding more trauma,~ Lila insisted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Peter was quick to raise his hands in surrender. “I’m not suggesting we douse her in gasoline and toss her a match. As I said before, I’m just suggesting testing a small area.” He turned to me, still holding up his hands. “It’s your decision, Raven. We don’t have to test it if you’re unwilling, but I feel it would be a good idea to know all your limits. “

“Just how small of an area are you talking about?” I asked dubiously.

He pulled out a lighter and offered it to me. “That’s up to you.”

I stepped past Erin to snatch the lighter from Peter with my right hand. “Fine, let’s get this over with.” I very carefully flicked the lighter, which wasn’t easy with my claws, and once the flame caught, I moved my opposite hand over the flame. I winced as I felt the heat but held my hand in place until the pain was too much. “Damn that hurts!” I cursed, dropping the lighter. Erin took my injured hand in both of hers to look at it with concern. I had what looked like a second-degree burn, but it began to heal as we both watched. In just over a minute, there was no proof that I had ever been burned.

“Holy shit,” Erin said in barely a whisper, as she continued to stare at my hand.

“Fire burns me, and it hurts like hell, so I guess that means I’m not fireproof. But at least it doesn’t hurt for long. Is there anything else you want to put me through, or can I eat now?” I grumbled.

“Just one more thing,” Peter admitted, “but it’s not likely to take long. As you discovered last night, Demons have the ability to shift between our physical plane and the Infernal Plane to move from one place to another instantly. Your father sometimes used that ability to get his team members into hard-to-reach places. The place had to be in sight, or he had to know the place and be able to visualize it in his mind, though.”

“So, what do you want me to do then, go home and bring something back?”

He shook his head. “No, I want you to walk about twenty feet away and then concentrate on the spot you’re standing in right now.”

With a shrug, I turned and walked away, and when I had walked far enough, I turned around and concentrated very hard on the area beside Erin, where I had been standing only a moment before. When I had it firmly in my mind, I felt a rush of air around me, and then I was standing right beside Erin again. “Do I pass?” I asked, just before the world began to spin, and I fell to the floor unconscious.

I groaned as consciousness returned and opened my eyes to find that I was in an unfamiliar room, with Erin and Alice both looking down at me in concern, while Erin gripped my hand like a vice. My best friend was back in the clothes she had worn when we left the house, so I assumed I had been out for a while. ~Are you alright, Raven?~ Alice asked, her worried expression making my pulse quicken.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood as I tore my gaze away from the Mermaid to look at Erin’s worried face instead. “I’m fine. What the hell happened, and how long have I been out?”

Erin let go of my hand and gave me a weak smile. “You scared the shit out of me, that’s what.”

~It’s almost dinner time, you’ve been unconscious for nearly five hours,~ Alice said in answer to my question. ~Peter said you passed out right after teleporting. Dr. Jennings looked at you, but she couldn’t find anything wrong, so we moved you here, hoping that you would wake up on your own.~

“Where is here?” I asked in confusion. “For that matter, where is everyone else?”

Alice gestured to some of the monitoring equipment in the room, and I was suddenly thankful that none of it was on. ~We’re in one of the rooms Dr. Jennings uses to care for people who need a little more than just ‘patching up’. She thought it was best we make you as comfortable as possible. Mom and Dad had to go investigate a disturbance downtown, so I volunteered to watch over you with Erin. As for everyone else, Peter didn’t think he would be a welcome sight for you to wake up to, so he and Dr. Jennings went out to get some takeout about half an hour ago. They thought you would probably be pretty hungry when you woke up.~

I managed to get myself into a sitting position without hurting my wings. “They were right, I’m starving. Do they have any idea why I passed out like that?”

“Dr. Jennings thinks it was your mixed heritage,” Erin answered. “She believes that your alignment to the Divine makes passing through the Infernal Plane a lot harder for you than for the Demons. It takes an insane amount of energy for you to do and leaves you weak when you reappear in our plane.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered. “I don’t plan on doing that again anytime soon, once was bad enough.”

Erin breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. Peter thinks it could be dangerous for you to do it again anyway.”

“What? Is he afraid that I’ll reappear inside a wall or something if I’m not careful?” I asked.

She shook her head soberly. “No, that’s not it; he believes you should have a built-in awareness of space that prevents that. He’s more concerned that with the amount of energy it takes for you to pass through the Infernal Plane, you could be stuck there unconscious if you don’t have enough energy to make it back to the Material Plane, where we live. That would leave you easy pickings for any Demon wanting a piece of you.”

“Well, that’s just one more reason for me to never do that again,” I agreed. Then I promptly changed the topic to something less ominous. “If it’s almost dinner time, then Lydia must be getting worried.”

Alice nodded her head as she informed me, ~She did come in to check on you earlier. She claimed it was because she was getting bored of keeping watch from the roof of the warehouse. It was pretty obvious that she was on edge, though. She’d probably still be here if she didn’t need to be at your house to supervise moving in my things and all your stuff from the dorms.~ She picked up my purse from the bundle of my clothes sitting atop a small cabinet and offered it to me. ~Here’s your purse if you want to get your phone out and give her a call.~

“Thanks, Alice,” I replied as I took it gratefully and opened it to fish inside for my cell phone. Once I had it in hand, I very gently unlocked it, selected the number for home, and hit the call icon.

There were four rings before the call went through, and a little girl’s voice answered, “Hello.”

At first, I thought that I had dialed the wrong number, and it was several seconds before I remembered Lydia showing us her preferred form in the morning. “Lydia? I’m just calling to let you know that I’m okay.”

I heard a long sigh on the other end before the Imp answered. “Good, you had us all worried. Are you heading home then? Should I make dinner?”

“No, Dr. Jennings and Peter went out to get some takeout for us, we’ll head home after we eat,” I replied. “Did the agents manage to get our stuff?”

“Yes, I was just starting to put everything away and prepare the spare room and the attic for Alice and Erin. Your friends were all concerned, but I was told that with some mental nudging, they all believed the story. On Monday, the agents will return to the school and get you both withdrawn from your classes.” The Imp paused before adding tentatively, “I’m sorry things worked out this way, I know how much you wanted a normal life.”

“It’s not your fault, you did your best, and this would have happened sooner or later,” I told her, trying to reassure her that I didn’t blame her for any of this. “I’ll let you get back to work, and we’ll head back once we’ve eaten.”

“I’ll see you later then, make sure you get an escort to follow the van,” she cautioned before hanging up.

I put the phone back in my purse and looked down at my clothes distastefully. “Ugh, I’ve been lying in these sweaty clothes for hours. Is there anywhere that I can wash up a bit and change clothes before I eat?”

Erin chuckled at that and pointed at one of the room’s two doors. “I felt the same way earlier, Raven. There’s a bathroom over there, it’s not much, but you can wash up a little and change without having to go all the way back downstairs to the training area.”

~For someone who felt so dirty, she sure didn’t want to leave this room. Dr. Jennings had to order her to leave your side to go take a shower and try to relax a bit,~ Alice’s musical mental voice chimed in. ~I had to promise to come to get her if you woke up.~

“Thanks, both of you, for being here,” I told the pair gratefully as I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “I’d hug you, but I’m all gross from lying in these clothes.” I quickly snatched up my pile of clothes and headed into the bathroom to freshen up.

“We’ll still be here to hug when you come back out,” I heard Erin reply as I shut the door.

Getting changed in a small bathroom was not easy. As I tried getting out of my clothes my wings kept bumping into the walls, the mirror, the sink, the toilet, and anything else they could manage. When I was finally out of the exercise clothes, though I practically ripped them apart in the process, I took a washcloth and tried to wash off as much of the sweat and grime as possible in the confines of the room. Then I patted myself dry with a towel and began the arduous task of getting dressed without destroying my clothes, while my wings did everything that they could to make it more difficult.

When I finally emerged from the bathroom, Dr. Jennings and Peter were back with six large pizzas and two six-packs of Coke. Once Dr. Jennings was certain that I wasn’t going to fall on my face from a short walk, they escorted us to a small dining area where agents on duty took their meals. We were seated, and Peter was passing out cans when he said, “I’m sorry about what happened there, Raven. I was just trying to be thorough with the testing; I had no clue that shifting between planes would be that taxing for you. Given your lack of most of the other demonic abilities, I was doubtful that you could do it at all.”

I shrugged it off and managed to summon a smile to my tired face. “As you said, we needed to test everything, and you couldn’t have known that would happen. Let’s just put it behind us and eat. What kind of pizzas did you get?”

Dr. Jennings smirked at her co-worker. “I told you that she wouldn’t blame you, you old worrywart.” Then in answer to my question, she said, “We weren’t sure what you girls would like, so we tried to get a bit of everything. There’s vegetarian, meat lovers, seafood, pepperoni, Hawaiian, and barbeque chicken.”

I shuddered at the last choice. “I’m not touching that last one; I don’t think I’ll ever eat anything that once had wings again,” I said as I helped myself to a large slice of pepperoni.

Alice giggled at that. It was weird, I could see her physically giggling, but there was no sound coming from her mouth. Instead, I heard in my mind what sounded like the tinkling of tiny bells. As strange as it was, it was also cute, and the smile on her face made my heart stutter in my chest. When she managed to stop herself, she offered, ~You can have my share of the seafood pizza.~ She took a piece of Hawaiian.

“I’d have thought that as a Mermaid you’d like that sort of thing. I kind of pictured you as someone who eats a lot of sushi,” Erin said, looking a bit confused as she took a slice of the vegetarian.

~I don’t hate seafood,~ the Mermaid admitted as she nibbled at her pizza. ~But when I Manifested last year, I had trouble learning to change back to a human form, especially getting used to breathing air again. I had to live underwater in English Bay for six months before I could maintain a human form for long enough to live on land again. When you live underwater and eat raw fish and seaweed for every meal for that long, sushi kind of loses its appeal.~

“I can see how that would make you want to eat other things,” Erin replied, making a sour face. “Do you still have problems changing form? You seemed to do it fine on the boat last night.”

Alice shook her head in reply. ~No, I can do it fine now. One day it just suddenly clicked, and I was able to do it without a problem. I have really good control over my form and abilities now. Mom says I’ll be as good with Water magic as she and Dad are soon. It’s why they’re letting me help with less dangerous cases.~

“I don’t think I’d like to see what you consider dangerous,” I put in between mouthfuls of pizza. “Those were Demons last night. How did you take them out anyway?”

~They were only minor Demons,~ the Mermaid stressed. ~Lesser Demons are mostly cowards, and they’ll run if they don’t think they can win. When Erin Manifested and your seal broke, they knew they had their hands full. When we showed up, we used some high-pressure water blasts to let them know that we meant business, and they decided that the odds were no longer in their favor, so they went back to the Infernal Plane to regroup.~

We spent the next hour eating and talking about the Demons, our abilities, and how Erin and I could train ourselves until Alice’s parents returned from downtown, looking worn out. Once they were both sure that I had eaten enough to recharge my batteries, we left PDA headquarters, and I climbed back into the rear of the delivery van. As Alice drove us home, they followed behind to ensure our safety, and so that one of them could return the van to the warehouse once we were all safe inside.

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 7: Home

We had just gotten inside the house when Alice handed both me and Erin a small envelope. ~These contain your PDA registration cards; you should keep them in your purses with your Driver’s License and other identification so that you always have them on hand.~

I opened my envelope as Erin was doing the same to find a laminated business card that said, Werehouse Imports and Exports: Customer Loyalty Card. It also had my name, photo, and a customer number, which I assumed must be the registration number used to identify me. Erin laughed as she looked at hers. “Very low profile, does this mean we get a discount?”

Alice nodded as she answered, ~Yes. Registered Paranormals get to buy anything in the warehouse at just a little bit above cost.~

“Really?” Erin asked, her eyebrows rising in interest. “That’s pretty cool.” Then she placed her card in her purse, and I followed suit.

“Why did we have to register as Paranormals anyway? Are these cards used to track us or something?” I asked suspiciously. “You know, in case we go bad, or do something illegal?”

The tinkling of bells in my mind once again signaled the Mermaid’s giggling. ~Don’t be silly, the registration cards just help us keep track of the number, and various types of local Paranormals who want to blend in with human society and live normal lives. It lets us better serve their needs by knowing what services may be needed here. We hardly ever have to go after a registered Paranormal for anything more than a slap on the wrist offense. It’s the non-registered ones like your Demon friends that we need to watch out for, since generally they don’t want to blend in, or they have something to hide. Those are the ones that usually cause enough trouble that we need to seal or Hunt them.~

I breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn’t considered dangerous or something. “What does the PDA do with the bad ones? Are there some sort of Paranormal prisons out there?”

~For minor offenses on less powerful humanoid Paranormals, we use a minor seal, it’s kind of like a minimum-security prison sentence since they’re stuck as regular humans with no special abilities,~ Alice explained. ~Full seals are much harder to do and generally require having something important to the one being sealed. You can never know what that something is, though, so we can’t use those often in the field. I’m guessing it only worked on your grandfather because his son’s blood was used, and your mother sacrificed her life to use enough power to do it.~

I nodded thoughtfully as I followed what she was saying. “So, what do you do with the bad ones that you can’t use a seal on then?”

The Mermaid shrugged her shoulders. ~ A minor seal can be used on them if they willingly submit to it. That’s what the Hunter teams are for. They are trained in detective work, and usually, each team member has a different specialty. They track down the offender and ask them to come peacefully and submit to a minor seal. Ninety-five percent of the time, they don’t.~

“And when they don’t? What happens then?” Erin asked with a grimace that said she probably had a pretty good guess already.

~Then the Hunt is on, and the team takes them down by whatever means are necessary,~ she replied sadly. ~In the case of murderers or extremely violent offenders, they don’t bother with asking nicely, they just Hunt them.~

“And you want to do that for a living?!” I asked incredulously.

~Think about all those humans out there, blissfully unaware of our existence, just like you were yesterday,~ the very pretty Mermaid pointed out. ~They are better off if they don’t know about us, and we’re better off that way too. Many of them would think of us as monsters if they knew about us, even those of us who just want to live a normal life. The ones that the PDA Hunt are the real monsters, those who prey on humans or who would reveal us to the world for their own ends. We have to Hunt the predators to keep their prey safe. Sure, it’s not a very nice job, but if somebody doesn’t do it, the world will fall into chaos, and in chaos, everybody gets hurt.~

“Wow, you’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” Erin said in awe.

Alice’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, making the punk girl look vulnerable for a moment, not to mention very cute. ~Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so preachy, but yes, I am serious. I’ve been learning about guns from my dad and working hard on getting better with Water magic. The PDA has a training program for those interested in joining them, and I’m hoping to be assigned to the crime lab to learn forensics.~

“Maybe Raven should join you, with her strength and new abilities, she’d make one hell of a monster hunter,” Erin said with a laugh.

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed, “how is that living a normal life? I can just see myself on dates. ‘So, what do you do for a living?’ ‘Oh, nothing special, I hunt monsters for a covert government agency, it’s not nearly as interesting as accounting.’ What do Hunters tell people anyway?”

~Mostly they say they work in the import and export business, it saves the PDA from having to print different business cards,~ Alice retorted with a musical giggle.

“Of course, how silly of me,” I said with a groan, though her giggling did make me crack a smile. The sound of footsteps racing down the stairs stopped me from saying anything more until a seven-year-old girl barreled into me for a hug, and I let out an “Oomph.”

“Raven, I’m so happy you’re back!” Lydia exclaimed as she let go of me to give me a stern look and waggled her finger at me. “Never worry me like that again, young lady.” Her look had changed slightly from when we had left in the morning. Her hair was a slightly lighter shade of blonde, and her romper was now rose-colored instead of denim, but it still had the prominently displayed middle finger. Her appearance, combined with the stern look and the chastisement, sent us all into a fit of giggles.

“Thanks, Lydia, I needed a good laugh,” I said once I could speak again, “and I’m sorry for worrying you.”

The Imp grinned at me and replied, “I had considered saying ‘Mommy, why did you leave me all alone?’ just for the shock value, but I’ll save that for when you have company that doesn’t know me.” Then she gestured to the room around us. “Anyway, Alice has only seen the living room and the foyer here, and I think Erin hasn’t gone much further than the guest room, so how about a tour of your new home, girls? I just finished preparing things for you.”

“You actually do housework in that form?” Erin asked in disbelief as we followed the Imp up the stairs to the second floor.

“Oh sure,” Lydia replied as she led us up the stairs. “It takes a bit longer to do certain things, but I‘m more comfortable this way.”

“Yeah, I can see how it would make things take longer; shorter reach, less strength, and shorter legs, just to name a few things,” Erin replied.

“That, and I can’t resist jumping on the beds after I make them when I’m like this, so I end up having to make them again.” I wasn’t quite sure if she was joking or not, but I tried not to pay it much mind as she began the tour. “The door on the right is the master bedroom, which is, of course, Raven’s room. It has its own bathroom, so she doesn’t have to fight with the two of you for the main bathroom on the ground floor. The first door on the left will be Alice’s room, beyond that is my room, and then the linen closet at the end of the hall.”

She opened the door to the left to display the former guest room. “I had the agents who brought your things help me take the bed up to the attic for Erin,” she explained as our new guests took in the room. The powder blue walls were still bare, but there were clothes in the closet, and the bed had been removed and replaced with a large wooden framed pool, roughly four feet high and the size of a queen-sized bed. The water inside was clear and still. “I also had the agents assemble your bed, Alice; I didn’t want to make any mistakes with it, and I’ll let you decorate as you see fit.”

“That’s a bed?” Erin asked uncertainly.

~Yes, it is.~ Alice replied with a slight mental giggle. ~Merfolk need to sleep underwater since we revert to our true forms when we sleep, not that we sleep for long.~ She must have sensed what we were going to ask next because she went on to say, ~We only need about one or two hours sleep per night to be fully rested.~

“Lucky,” I said, “that gives you more time for studying or hobbies.”

She nodded in reply. ~True, and since most of us Manifest between twelve and fourteen, we usually do well in school, or anything that requires a lot of practice. On the other hand, we also get bored very easily.~

We left Alice’s room and went halfway down the hall, where Lydia pulled on a sturdy cord that hung from the long trapdoor in the ceiling to pull down the retractable wooden steps. We followed her up to the attic, which now displayed some of Erin’s posters from her dorm room on the slanted walls. Her clothes hung carefully from a wooden pole that had been bolted to a pair of support beams as a sort of makeshift closet, and there was an old steamer trunk that I remember being empty, but which now had its lid opened to show the rest of Erin’s clothes carefully folded inside.

The chest that Erin had received from her grandfather was at the foot of the bed, which had the quilt that her mother had made for her on top. Beside the bed, her books and school supplies were on a small table along with a battery-powered reading lamp. “Thanks, Lydia, it looks great,” Erin said with a smile as she looked it all over. “Now that I have my grandfather’s chest, I can do some reading before I sleep tonight.”

Lydia then led us back down to the first floor and through the living room to continue the tour. She showed our new roommates the downstairs bathroom and laundry room before we finally ended up in the kitchen. “I usually prepare all the meals, but feel free to use the kitchen yourselves if you like. The backyard isn’t much, but there are a few lawn chairs and a barbecue, and it does have access to the water, as you know from your arrival last night. There’s a basement as well, but only Siv ever went down there. I think that she had a ward that prevented anyone but her and Raven from going downstairs. Raven went down there once when she was little, and I had to wait for her to come back up, so I’ve kept it locked since.”

“I think I remember that. It was dark, and I couldn’t see much, so everything looked really scary. It took me forever to find the stairs again, and when I did get back upstairs, I was so scared that I never wanted to go down there again.” I shivered at the memory.

”Creepy basement that only one person could get into? Sounds like a mystery,” Erin said with a frown. “We may have to go down there and explore, or at the very least send Raven down with a flashlight this time. Raven, I hate to say it, but between that and your mom leaving you a hundred thousand dollar trust fund on a cop’s salary, something smells fishy. And I don’t think that it’s Alice.”

Alice gave her a silent raspberry, but Lydia shook her head and said, “You’re free to explore, but I don’t think it was for anything criminal. Siv might have been very private about her background, but she had very strong morals. She usually went downstairs when she was upset or deep in thought. I think it was her private place; everyone needs one sometimes. It may have some more information on who she was, though.”

“I could use some answers about my mom, especially if I’m going to figure out what this mysterious Divine ability Peter detected is,” I thought aloud. “I’ll have to go down there and see what’s there.”

Despite my resolve, it was another three weeks before I decided to investigate the basement and its mysteries. As tempting as it was, there were more important things to learn at the moment. I spent most of my time with Alice, learning how to pull my claws and wings inside me and keep them there. I was slowly making progress, but it took a lot of concentration to maintain and was extremely uncomfortable. Alice assured me that I was doing very well and that with time, it would get easier and less uncomfortable to maintain.

I was also using that time to get a better sense of my strength, and I was doing well on that front as well, having not destroyed anything unintentionally in over a week. Spending so much time with Alice was conflicting, though. I not only found her very attractive, but she was sweet and fun to be around as well. The more time that we spent together, the harder it was becoming to keep my interest in her to myself, so I threw myself into what she was teaching me in an attempt to keep my mind off her and what was important.

Results were mixed, but at least I was making progress on the shapeshifting. Besides, I sternly told myself several times, I didn’t even know if she was into guys or girls, and it would be just my luck that she was straight. She was also a Mermaid and needed to sleep in water, while I had these enormous wings, so even if she was a lesbian, how could things ever work out between us? We were just too different.

While I was busy working with Alice and trying very hard not to fall for her completely, Erin was spending a lot of her time outside or in the attic reading her grandfather’s journals and practicing the meditation techniques contained within, to not only better control what power she had, but also to increase her power. She had discovered in those books that she could gain more power, and possibly new abilities, by binding spirits to her. The journals contained the rituals needed, but they wouldn’t be of any use to her until she was strong enough on her own to see and interact with spirits. When she wasn’t reading, she was practicing with the rattles and other shaman tools that her grandfather had left for her in the chest.

Whenever we weren’t studying or practicing, we were learning everything about the paranormal world that Alice and Lydia could teach us. This was what eventually caused me to search the basement. Alice was telling us about the various types of Paranormals that she knew of locally, and what was known of them.

When I asked what was known about Valkyries, Alice frowned and shook her head. ~The PDA has very little information about your mother’s people. All they know is that Valks are strong, durable, can fly, and that they come from some sort of warrior culture. They figured at first that information about them was so rare because your mom was the only one they had any long-term contact with, so they tried contacting the different agencies in Scandinavia where Valkyrie myths originated.~

“What did they find out?” I asked.

~That they don’t have much more information than we do,~ she replied with a silent sigh. ~Mom and Dad tried the agencies in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and even Iceland. None had any information outside old myths, sightings, and records of a few mercenaries claiming to be Valkyries who were fighting for Norway during the Napoleonic Wars and World War Two. The Norwegians are really interested in you, by the way. Norway had the most sightings, and they believe your people may have been native to the mountains there.~

I wasn’t sure that I liked how she ended that response. “May have been?” I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat.

~Either they’re very reclusive, even to other Paranormals, or there aren’t many left. There haven’t been sightings or anyone claiming to be one in decades.~ She sighed once more and looked at me sadly. ~I’m sorry, Raven, I wish I had more for you.~

I shook my head and offered a weak smile to try and reassure the Mermaid that all was fine. Looking into her apologetic eyes made the smile come easier, but it also made my heart beat faster in my chest. Damn, I had it bad for her. “It’s not your fault, Alice; your parents tried. If I want to find anything more out, I guess I’ll have to go check in the basement.”

I stood up from the sofa and stretched my wings to get rid of the tightness between my shoulders. Learning to hide them was giving me a better sense of them, and although I was no closer to flying than before, at least I had some degree of control over them now. Once the tightness was gone, I pulled them closer toward my body, so I wouldn’t bang them on any door frames as I went to the kitchen for a flashlight.

“Are you sure you want to go down there alone?” Erin asked in a concerned tone as she and Alice stood up to follow me. Both of my new roommates had tried going down there once, only to find that some invisible force had prevented them, like there was a wall there that they couldn’t see. Alice figured that the same Divine spell that had kept Lydia and my father out was probably meant to keep out anyone except my mother and me, or perhaps just those with Valkyrie blood.

“It’s not like I have a choice. I need answers, and I’m the only one who can get past that door. I’ll try sending my thoughts to Alice once I’m inside. If that works, then at least I can remain in contact while I’m down there,” I conceded in compromise. Then I took the flashlight from the emergency supplies drawer and switched it on to make sure the batteries were good. Once I found that they were, I headed to the door under the stairs and unlocked and opened it. With another weak smile to my roommates, I said, “Here goes nothing,” and headed down the dark stairs.

The small beam of light failed to illuminate much, so I kept it focused on the stairs in front of me so I wouldn’t misstep and fall on my face. ~Alice, can you hear me?~ I sent to the Mermaid.

~Loud and clear,~ she replied. The musical sound of her mental voice reassured me greatly and once again made my heart flutter.

I took each step carefully, not wanting to fall, and when I finally reached the bottom, I swung the flashlight around in an arc. The damn thing just wasn’t powerful enough though, and I couldn’t make out much of anything. “Dammit!” I cursed aloud. “This would be a lot easier if there were some lights on.”

The room was suddenly clearly visible, as white light banished the darkness that had previously cloaked everything. The light came from evenly spaced white globes of light hovering in the air above me and throughout the large room, revealing seventeen years of dust and cobwebs coating the floor and everything else in the room. A large portion of the room was taken up by what appeared to be practice mats for fighting and some sort of practice dummies. At the back of the room, there were weapons of all types displayed on shelves and racks.

Shields, swords, spears, war hammers, bows, and various other weapons from ages past shared space with early firearms and other more modern weapons. It was like some kind of museum of warfare through the ages, and at the center of it all, resting upon a mannequin, was a suit of armor like that pictured on the mythical Valkyries in my textbook. I stared in amazement at everything until Alice broke into my thoughts. ~Are you okay down there, Raven?~ My heart skipped a beat from the concern in her mental voice.

~I’m fine,~ I replied, suddenly glad that she could only hear the thoughts that I purposely sent her. ~I got some sort of lights to work. I think it was some sort of Divine magic that my mother left in place. You should see this place, it’s amazing, like some sort of museum.~

~You found a light switch? That should make things easier.~

~No, there’s no switch that I know of,~ I responded. ~I’m pretty sure that my mom left a spell in place. These lights just turned on when I complained about there being no lights on.~

~The spell that your mother created to make the lights may be voice-activated,~ she agreed. ~Probably to make it more convenient for her. So what’s all down there?~

~It looks like a practice or training area, and there are a bunch of different weapons, some of which must be ancient. I wonder how she got all of these. Was she some sort of collector?~ I turned around to see an open doorway leading to another room and stepped through to see a large antique desk with a padded stool rather than a chair. ~Hold on, there’s more in this other room.~

As I stepped inside, I noted that the shelves which lined the walls of the room were full of leather-bound books, scrolls, and strange-looking curios. Behind the desk was a large painted portrait of my mother wearing the armor I had seen in the other room, or at least it looked like her, and a brief search produced some photo albums of what I assumed to be my family’s history. Most of the photos were old, and the oldest ones featured five light-haired women, usually armed. One looked a lot like my mother, and another was similar enough to be her sister. I assumed the similar pair in the later photos were their descendants because the resemblance was uncanny.

The more recent photos were of my mother and father with a pair of men that I figured were probably their teammates when they were with the PDA. One of the men had pointed ears, while the other appeared to be a Werewolf. There was also a picture of them holding me when I was born. It must have been taken before I was sealed because I could make out stubby little black wings on my back. Those photos showed my mother with her wings, and they were such a pristine white that they seemed to glow.

A quick look at one of the leather-bound books and some of the opened scrolls showed them to be written in some form of runes. ~This is odd, these all seem to be written in some old language. I recognize some of the runes from my Scandinavian Mythology class, but I have no idea what they say.~ Since I couldn’t find anything that I could understand on the shelves, I decided to check the desk next.

The top of the desk was clear of anything but years of dust and a single envelope. Once I had brushed the dust off, I found that the envelope had my name written on it. ~I found an envelope addressed to me. I’m going to bring it and a few other things upstairs for us to look at.~ I gathered the photo albums, one of the books, and the envelope, and headed up the steps. Once I was at the top, I said aloud, “Lights off.” To my pleasure, the lights vanished, and I shut the door behind me as I left to join Erin and Alice in the living room.

I placed the items I had brought up onto the coffee table and got comfortable on the couch once again. Alice sat beside me as I began to open the envelope. “Lydia went out to get some shopping done while you were down there,” Erin stated as she picked up one of the photo books to look through it. “She said dinner might be late unless you want to order in.”

~Chinese sounds good to me if we’re going to be spending the evening poring over books and old photos,~ Alice put in.

Erin nodded and headed into the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, “I’ll order while you two get started, then.” I barely heard her as I focused on opening the envelope and reading the letter within.

Dearest Raven,

If you are reading this, then I fear that the worst has happened, and I am dead. Your father and I are trying to prevent your grandfather, the Archdemon Baehran, from bringing an army of his Demon warriors into the human world. Should we succeed, then there is the chance that his followers could come after you one day. They have already tried to take you once, to become Baehran’s heir, since your father has refused to take on that evil legacy, but should we seal him, then they may be after you for your blood instead.

There is so much of your life I have missed out on, but please know that I love you more than anything. Your birth made even the thrill of battle pale in comparison, and for a Valkyrie, that is something, as we feel most alive when we are risking death. I had hoped to one day instruct you in the rites and see you take your place as a warrior, but as you are reading this, that is likely not the case.

Since I am not there to instruct you, you must find another teacher if you are to reach your true potential. You must seek out my sister, Lin Hansdotter. If she yet lives, then she is the only one who can instruct you in the ways of our people and break your seal, if it has not been broken already. She can help you learn to protect yourself from those who would kill or manipulate you. I have included a photograph of Lin to aid you in your search for her, but I fear that she may not welcome you. We had a falling out some years ago and have not spoken since, though to my knowledge, she is still in Vancouver at the time that I write this letter.

The thought of not being there for you pains me greatly, but I will gladly give my life if it is required for the greater good. Always remember that. Valkyries are true warriors; we bow to no one, and we fight to make a difference in the lives of those weaker than ourselves. A true warrior does not fight seeking recognition and glory, but rather to protect the weak. You must not show weakness to your enemies, and you must guard your strengths, even from your allies. If your friends underestimate you, so too will your enemies, and a warrior seeks every advantage that they can get.

Enough of that. Should Lin still live, you must find her and have her teach you these things. Tell her that I loved her even to the end, just as I do you. You are not just my daughter, but also my greatest treasure. It is hard to say goodbye, so I won’t say that. Instead, I will have faith that you will become a great warrior and fight the good fight in my stead. Knowing that to be the case, I will instead say:

See you in Valhalla,

Your loving mother, Siv Demarco

I could feel tears stinging my eyes as I finished reading the letter, and a few drops dampened the aged paper in my hands. I felt arms being wrapped around me, and when I looked up, through eyes half-blind with tears, I saw that both Alice and Erin had me wrapped in their arms. Their hold on me tightened as I began to sob, the letter gripped tightly in my hands.

When I finally managed to regain control of myself, I hugged my two friends in return and placed the letter on the table. Then I took the photograph from the envelope to examine it. She looked like the second woman in the more recent photos, although her hair was much shorter. “Well, at least I know what I need to do now. I need to master hiding my wings, and I need to find this Lin Hansdotter.”

~We’ll help however we can, Raven,~ Alice offered with determination. ~If she’s your mother’s sister, then she may show up somewhere in the PDA database or one of the other agencies' databases. If she was in Vancouver back then, then she might still be here, or we can find out where she went. It’s possible that some of the local Paranormals may know her face, if not her name. We can show the picture to my parents and see what they can come up with. We will find her.~

“Thanks, Alice, I hope you’re right.” I stared at the picture, trying to burn the face into my memory.

The discovery of the letter and the possibility that my estranged aunt might still be alive gave me a good reason to work even harder at learning to hide my wings and keep them hidden. If I was going to go out to search for her, I would need to be able to blend in with the regular humans for long periods of time. With that in mind, I doubled my efforts over the next couple of weeks. I pushed myself to near exhaustion until I managed to hide my wings completely and was able to keep them hidden for several hours at a time.

During those two weeks, any time I wasn’t training with Alice was spent searching the internet for any clues about my aunt, or in the basement. It seemed wrong to leave my mother’s sanctuary covered in dust, so I got to work cleaning it, and then I began to study the scrolls and books. I wish I could say that they provided some of the information that I needed, but sadly, all that I had looked at so far were written in runes, and while I might recognize one or two, I was far from having any true comprehension of the language. Some of those scrolls and books seemed to be ancient, and I considered trying to find a linguist to translate them, but then I would have to explain how I came across them. Besides, who knew what secrets they contained that weren’t meant for humans, or even other Paranormals?

Alice’s parents had looked through the PDA database, and while they did find an entry for Lin Hansdotter, it was over twenty years old, and the address listed was in an apartment complex that had been demolished three years ago. To be thorough, they tried showing her picture around the neighborhood, but nobody had seen her. They weren’t even sure if they could find her using the picture because it was over twenty years out of date. Her appearance had probably changed with age, since she looked about my age in the photograph, and now she would probably be in her forties.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, December 9th, that we finally got a lead on her. By then, I was able to hide my more non-human features for most of the day if I had to. It wasn’t easy and required enough focus to leave me somewhat distracted in public, but it could be done. So, as a reward and a trial by fire, Alice decided that we needed to go shopping. She felt that both Erin and I needed a break and to get out amongst people for a bit. That aside, though, it was weird being out in public again for two reasons.

The first was being cooped up so long, without much of anyone around but each other and Lydia. The second reason was Alice herself. No, this was not about my attraction and growing feelings for her, which I was still trying to keep to myself. So, with me reluctant to communicate my feelings to her, it was kind of funny that communication was the reason that our outing felt a little strange.

Whenever she wanted to speak with a salesperson or someone spoke to us, and she answered, she would go through the motions of using sign language and tell us what she was saying telepathically so we could translate for the person if they didn’t know how to communicate in ASL. We were sitting in the food court of the City Centre mall, eating lunch, when a guy approached us. He was tall, could probably be considered kind of cute, and looked to be in good shape with long, dark purple hair and several piercings.

He and Alice began signing pleasantries, and she quickly sent to us in that melodic mental voice of hers, ~This is Dennis, he’s a friend of mine from down below. Dennis, this is Raven and Erin. I’ve been living with them and teaching Raven how to pass as a human.~

Was he just a friend or more? It didn’t seem like she was flirting with him or even interested in him that way, but the doubts continued to metaphorically stab me in the heart as I watched them interact. I forced myself to shake off those thoughts, smiled at him, and extended my hand to shake his. “It’s nice to meet you, Dennis. Alice has been a big help to me, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine.”

Erin quickly followed suit. “It’s nice to meet you, Dennis. Would you like to join us?”

The Merman smiled, shaking both our hands in turn and signing to us, while his voice hummed in our minds like a bass guitar. ~The pleasure is all mine, ladies. I would love to stay, but I’m supposed to be meeting some friends soon. I just saw Alice, and I thought that I’d say hi.~

I nodded but was secretly relieved. He seemed nice, but I really needed to do something about my growing feelings for Alice. “Hopefully, we’ll see you again sometime,” I offered. Then, just as I had been doing for most of the day, when we got into a conversation with someone, I reached into my purse and took out my aunt’s photo. “Before you go, Dennis, could you tell me if you’ve seen anyone who looks like this? She may look a bit older now, though.”

Dennis took the photo and looked it over, appearing lost in thought for a moment, before finally replying. ~I remember this girl.~

“You’ve seen her?!” I nearly shouted in my excitement.

~I don’t think that I’ll forget that night anytime soon,~ he answered with a smile. ~It was a couple of Fridays ago. Some friends and I went to the Ninth Ring on a dare.~

“The Ninth Ring?” Erin asked before I could.

~It’s a bar for Paranormals on the East Side. A lot of nasty characters hang out there,~ he clarified. ~That girl in the photo was there. She stood out because most Paranormals go there in their true form, and she had wings. I thought she might be an Angel or something until that Troll tried to proposition her. She spat in his face, and then, when he took a swing at her, she caught his hand and took a swing of her own. She knocked him out in one punch.~

“That sounds like it could be her, or a close relative. If she hangs out at that bar, then I know where I’m going on Friday night.” I put the photo away and gave Dennis a grin. “Thanks, Dennis, you’ve been a huge help.”

~You’re welcome,~ he replied. ~One bit of advice, though, if you’re going to go to the Ninth Ring, then you had better take some protection. It’s a dangerous place.~

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. This chapter required quite a bit of rewriting, including about two thousand words that weren't included before. As a result, it is longish at well over 7k words, but I couldn't really find a place where I felt there was a natural break that would meld well with the next chapter, so it's staying the way it is now. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 8: A Valkyrie, a Vampire, and an Ogre walk into a bar...

Over the next few days, while we waited for Friday to roll around, Erin and I continued to practice our magical abilities as best we could with nobody to formally teach us. For Erin, that meant reading her grandfather’s journal and talking with Ginger, the orange tabby cat she had adopted at the SPCA to finish our Tuesday outing. Ginger was roughly a year old, from what the volunteer at the SPCA could tell us, and she and Erin had connected as soon as they met. She also confirmed that Erin could speak with and understand cats, well, as much as anyone can.

As for me, when I wasn’t practicing magic or going outside for brief outings just because I finally could, I was mostly looking through my mother’s private space in the basement and the various books and weapons that it contained. Sometimes I would bring things upstairs for us all to look at together, but whenever we were done with them, I returned them to the exact places where I found them in the basement, even the photo album. It seemed disrespectful to my mother to just leave them lying around the house in plain sight when I found them in her private place.

I was unwilling to let anyone except Lydia, Erin, and Alice see anything that I found down there. Erin had suggested that we take some of the books to the university to see about getting them translated, or some of the smaller items of interest to an antique store for an appraisal, but the idea didn’t sit well with me. Yes, there was a mystery here, but Lydia said my mother was secretive about her past and her people, and it felt like going to someone else to find answers would risk revealing Paranormal secrets and betraying my mother’s memory. Ever since I had gone downstairs and found the letter, I had felt a connection to my mother that I had never felt before, and I didn’t want to sully that.

I did, however, take some photos with my phone of the training area and the weapons and armor, but only so I could show the others what I was talking about. I did not take any of the little office, though. It seemed far more personal somehow, like invading my mother’s privacy, and for some reason that I couldn’t explain, I wanted to keep her sanctum a secret, as if it was something that I alone was allowed to share with her.

And then there was Alice. Honestly, I didn’t know how Erin and I could have made it through the last month and a half and stayed sane without her help. She had helped us get used to all this Paranormal shit and had become a good friend and a constant reassuring presence for both of us. Since our outing, though, I noticed that she had been acting a little strangely. She was casting longing looks in my direction when she thought I wasn’t looking, there were occasional awkward silences, or she would verbally stumble in our conversations.

It was doing terrible things to my poor heart and my mind was constantly filled with fear. Did she think that her job with us was done? Was helping us adjust, helping me to learn to hide my wings, and teaching us about the Paranormal just a job to her? She had done everything she came to do when she moved in with us, so did she want to go home and get back to her life? That would explain the strange longing looks. Was that truly it and she was just trying to figure out some way of letting me and Erin down easy?

It didn’t help that I had it bad for her. Just spending time with her warmed my heart like sunshine suddenly breaking through the clouds on a dismally grey day. Maybe it would be for the best if she did leave. Even if she was into girls, it would never work out between us anyway and this way, we could both get back to our lives without me constantly worrying about doing or saying something that might make her uncomfortable around me. I decided that I wouldn’t be the one to bring it up, but when she did, I would do my best to not make things awkward for both of us.

Alice and I sat in my dad’s old Jeep Cherokee outside what appeared to be an abandoned building as the cold December rain fell outside. This was one of the worst areas of the East Side, and my car would have stood out far too much. In this neighborhood, I was even worried about the Jeep getting unwanted attention, but Alice assured me that she could keep both herself and it safe and obscured with Water magic, if need be, especially with this much rain falling. “Are you sure that this is the place?” I asked for the second time.

~Absolutely,~ the Mermaid responded. ~Do you see that bit of blue graffiti beside the door? The little star with the letters PN underneath?~ I nodded, and she continued to explain, ~The PN stands for Paranormal. Businesses geared toward Paranormal customers put that symbol by the entrance to show that they are there. Sometimes they’ll put another letter there as well, to show what type of business it is.~

“But it’s all boarded up, how am I supposed to get inside?” I asked.

She shook her head. ~It’s probably an illusion; these businesses usually hire Divine Mages to cast illusions to keep the normal humans from walking in.~

“What about the homeless that might be looking for a place to sleep? What keeps them out?”

~Another type of spell used along with the illusion. It makes normal humans look past the place without really seeing it. When they’re gone, they’ll vaguely recall an abandoned building, but not anything specific. It’s mostly used to keep people from seeing customers going in and out.~ She looked uncertainly at the building, and then at me with a worried expression. ~I’m not so sure that this is a good idea. Are you sure that you’re going to be okay by yourself in there? Dennis said that it’s a rough place.~

“From what Peter and Dr. Jennings said, I’m built pretty tough. I should be okay. Besides, we probably won’t get another chance at this without Lydia getting super protective, and Erin won’t be able to keep her distracted for long. We need to do this quickly if we’re going to convince her we just went out for a drive and to get a pizza,” I told her with confidence I didn’t quite feel as I tried to reassure her. My heart was fluttering, though. Not from fear of what awaited me in that bar, but from the thought that she was worried about me.

Alice sighed silently but gave in. ~Okay, fine, but you had better be back out in fifteen minutes or I’m coming in after you. The illusion should fade when you get to the door. If you get in over your head, send a thought my way and I’ll come in to back you up.~

“Okay Alice,” I said to reassure her, “but I’m sure I can handle myself.”

With that, I took off my jacket and was about to open the door to leave the car when Alice said, ~Raven, wait.~ Her mind voice was tremulous and uncertain, like shaking hands plucking at guitar strings, as was her expression when I turned back to face her. She swallowed and took a deep breath before speaking again though, her gaze wandering before she seemingly forced it back to my face in the brief, awkward silence. ~I’ve… been thinking…~

“Here it comes, she’s going to tell me that her work is done. She’s going to leave me... us and go back to living with her parents so she can train to be a Hunter like she wants,” I thought as I felt a painful twist in my heart. I could barely get my voice to work as I choked out the words, “I… understand… I’ll…”

~Do you want to go out with me?!~ she blurted out in my mind as I was still trying to find the words. Then, I was so stunned that, for a moment, all I could do was listen to her awkwardly ramble in my head. ~Not like this but like on a date… like a date-date. I mean, we don’t have to if you don’t want to, and I’ll understand if you don’t like girls that way… I kind of thought you did though, and I asked Erin about it and she said that you like girls and that I should ask you, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if she’s just joking and…~

She looked like she was ready to start hyperventilating as she babbled on like she was freaking out on the inside as much as I was. I silenced her wandering stream of thought by placing a trembling finger to her lips. Sure, she wasn’t using them to speak, but it was symbolic. “Alice… I would love to go out with you; you’ve been living rent-free in my head since we met.”

~In your house too,~ she added cheekily after letting out a long sigh.

Somehow, that just seemed to dissolve all the tension that had built up and I found myself relaxing as I slumped back into my seat with a similar sigh. “I’ve been wanting to say something, to figure out if you even like girls that way, I just… I wasn’t sure if you’d want to try a relationship with me, even if you did. You’re a Mermaid, and I’m… whatever the hell I am… Could we even make this work? Not that I don’t want to try!”

Her smile might have just lit up the interior of the Jeep, and it certainly lit a fire in my rapidly beating heart. She just kept smiling at me as she reached out to grasp my hand in hers, and I noticed that they were trembling as much as mine were. ~You thought that I, of all people, might have problems with a mixed species relationship? Seriously, Raven? My parents never let that stop them. Sure, a relationship like that takes work, and a desire to make it work, on both sides, but don’t all relationships? Let’s just start with a date and see where things go from there. Details can wait until later.~

“I… you’re right,” I conceded with a smile that might just have matched the light and warmth of hers. I was so happy right now that it felt like my face might explode. “So, we’ll talk about this more when I get back then? I really should get going if we want to get back before Lydia sends out search parties.”

~Yeah, that sounds good. Umm… one more thing though…~ She hesitated and once again took a deep breath to steady herself, and then she practically jumped out of her seat to kiss me. Her lips were so soft and warm as they met mine, like silken pillows and the contact was electric. The pleasant warmth of her lips passionately battling against mine was matched by the warmth growing in my belly, and somewhat lower, and jolts of searing pleasure ran up and down my spine as we finally broke apart, both gasping for air. ~For… luck,~ her voice near-whispered in my mind as she tried to catch her breath.

For a moment I couldn’t move or speak as I tried to process the feelings that my first kiss had instilled. I was like a warm and gooey puddle of raw emotion and sensation, and oh damn, I could only believe that I was well and firmly situated in the territory of ‘in love’. When I could breathe and think again, I gave her the biggest smile that my currently addled brain could manage and said, “Umm… thanks.” Then, with warmth and confidence filling my chest almost to bursting, I left the car to sprint through the rain toward the bar’s entrance.

The illusion did indeed fade once I had reached the entrance, and I opened one of the pair of sturdy wooden doors that appeared to step inside. The large common room was filled with the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke, and I could feel the looks of several of the bar’s patrons on me as I let the door close behind me. I stopped focusing on keeping my wings and claws contained and tried to walk up to the bar as casually as possible as I let them free.

My wings were very much a part of me now, and I felt some reassurance as their weight on my back returned. My balance was much better with them out now, and if this place was as bad as I had been told then I’d need every advantage that I could get. For that reason, the presence of my claws was even more reassuring as I leaned against the bar and took a stool to wait for the bartender. The bartender in question was a large man with red eyes, scaly azure skin, and three large horns on his head. “What can I get you?” he asked in a deep bass voice.

“Whatever you have on tap, and some information,” I replied as I leaned toward him and showed the photograph. “I’m looking for this person, I’ve heard she’s been here recently and she’s pretty memorable. She’s blonde and has wings like mine, only hers are white.”

“The brew will be three-fifty,” he said without even glancing at the photo. “But if you want information then you’ll need to talk to Joenyth, he sees everything that goes on in here. Most folks just call him Joey.”

“So, where can I find Joey?” I asked as I placed a five-dollar bill on the counter.

The barkeep filled a mug of beer and placed it in front of me before taking the bill. “He’s over there, at the table in the back corner. Just look for the Gryphon, you can’t miss him.”

“Thanks, keep the change.” I took my beer and made my way toward the back, where a large creature with the supersized wings and head of an eagle and the body of a lion sat at one of the tables watching the room. I gestured to the table, “Do you mind if I have a seat?”

“Good evening, sky-sister, please be seated. You seek information, yes?” The voice emanating from the creature’s beak was like two rocks being grated together, and I almost winced at the sound as I took the offered seat.

I nodded after swallowing a mouthful of the surprisingly good beer. “I seek one of my kin, sky-brother, a blonde woman with white wings. I heard that someone saw her here recently.”

The great eagle’s head let out a sound which, after a moment, I identified as laughter. “You seek lonely bird then, nestling? A strange bird that one. She comes here from time to time, but always alone. She does not speak to others, not even her sky-kin. She hides herself from all among humans. I know not where she nests; she is hidden even from our sight by powerful Divine magic, so I can help you not. Others may know, as we hear some speak of her. Wait with me, sky-sister. Soon one comes who can tell you when and where the one you seek flies along the stone ground, and I can teach a nestling much.”

~I may have something, but it will require waiting for a bit,~ I sent to Alice in my thoughts. ~Will you be alright out there until I get back?~

~I suppose so,~ the Mermaid replied, but she didn’t sound happy about it. ~I’d rather be with you. At least with all this rain, I can use Water magic to keep people from noticing the Jeep. I’ll bunker down until you get back. Just be careful, and call me if you need me.~

I smiled at the Gryphon and answered, “I can wait a while, and I am eager to learn what you would teach me, sky-brother.”

“Good,” the Gryphon replied with what I hoped was a smile. “Your kin goes without a flock, but you are yet a nestling and need a flock to call your own. Birds of a feather must flock together, yes?”

“Ummm… yes?” I replied uncertainly between long pulls at my beer.

For the next fifteen minutes, Joenyth told me about his kind and their way of life. The Gryphons were scholars and kept an eye on all things Paranormal. They were also very good with Air magic, had a natural camouflage ability that they used to stay mostly unseen by humans and Paranormals alike, and were in constant telepathic contact with one another. They revered family, life, and knowledge above all else. It was hard to tell what he was talking about half the time, but he seemed to want to help me.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I finally asked.

“No nestling should be without a flock, and the black-winged nestling most of all. The winds speak of you, and the evil which hunts you. Paranth Flock wishes to see you become a war-bird, like your kin, and hunt this evil; if it is not stopped, much life will be lost. We offer to be your flock. Paranth Flock will share knowledge with you and watch over your nest.”

I managed to understand most of what he said. From what he told me earlier they were pacifists so they likely wouldn’t attack anyone who tried to break into my home, but it sounded like they would warn me of danger and share any information they gathered. “And what does Paranth Flock ask in return?” I cautiously inquired.

“Paranth Flock asks only that you survive, and defend our flock if ever it is needed,” the Gryphon replied before looking toward the door. “One who can speak of your kin arrives, nestling. Be quick. You search for kin. Others search for you.”

I followed his gaze toward the door, where a skinny man in black jeans and a dark red jacket had entered the bar. He looked to be in his twenties, with olive skin and short, dark brown hair and he was headed straight for the bartender. I quickly thanked Joey once again for his help before going to the bar, where the man now sat on a stool ordering a beer. “Hi there,” I said with a smile as I sat on the stool beside him, “a little bird told me that you might be able to help me out.”

The man looked me over and smiled, his purple eyes lighting up. “Oh, I’m sure I can find some way to help you. I’m Pete, so what can I do to… for you?”

The look he was giving me made me sick to my stomach, but I pushed it aside for the moment as I took out the photograph. “I need to find this woman, and word is, you can tell me where and when.”

He took a long look at the photo and cursed. “Fuck. That’s the bitch who cost me two hundred bucks last week.” At my confused look, he decided to elaborate. “There’s a street racing circuit in town, Paranormal drivers only. The girl in the picture is one of the racers, she drives a silver Nissan GT-R and has a pretty good rep. I had some inside info on one of the other drivers though. He made some major mods to his ride, and I thought he’d win, even though the odds were seven to one, so I bet two hundred on him. I thought it was a sure thing y’know? She still beat him, and I was out two hundred bucks.” He gave me a wary look as he asked, “You’re not a cop, are you?”

I shook my head. “No, she’s a relative, and I need to contact her. Do you know where I can find her?” I prodded.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “She comes here to drink sometimes; all the drivers do. That girl can really put ‘em away; I don’t know where she puts it all. Finding her here ain’t gonna be a sure thing, though. If you really want to find her, your best bet is at the race.”

“So, you know where these races are held then?” I asked, feeling hopeful for the first time in weeks.

He nodded slowly as he took a careful look around before speaking again. “The time, place, and race route change every week, so the cops don’t catch on, and details are sent to an email list that the drivers and fans all subscribe to. You have a pen?” I quickly fished a pen out of my purse, and he jotted down a web address on a napkin. “This is where you can subscribe to the mailing list. Emails are usually sent out Saturday afternoons and races are at random times on Saturday nights, that way there’s less chance of the cops catching on in time to stop it.”

I stuffed the pen and napkin into my purse and smiled at the man. “Thanks a lot, Pete. Can I buy you a drink as a thank you?”

I felt something large pushing against my back and turned to see Joey there. “You must leave, nestling, quickly.” He inclined his head toward a table in the corner by the door where two men had just sat down. “One who sits there was told of black wings by the dark ones who offer bounty on your blood.”

“Damn,” I cursed, “thank you both for the help, but I think it’s time for me to leave.” Then I quickly sent a thought to Alice. ~Warm up the Jeep, I’m getting out of here, now.~

~I can’t warm up the Jeep, you have the keys. Are you in trouble?~ she asked as I made my way to the door, only to have the two men step between me and it. The first man was a skinny man dressed all in black leather with black hair, shifty blood-red eyes, pale skin, and a fanged grin that I didn’t like at all. The second was an eight feet tall and ugly wall of muscle with a lilac tinge to his skin and long shaggy brown hair. He smelled terrible and his clothes were a patchwork of multi-colored rags, probably because he couldn’t find regular clothes that would fit him.

“Just my luck,” I muttered as I walked up to them. ~Yeah, there are two guys between me and the door; a big ugly purple guy and a guy who could really use some sun. From what you and Lydia have told me I’d guess they’re an Ogre and a Vampire. I’ll be out as soon as I can.~ I stopped just out of arms reach and mentally groaned when they didn’t move. “You are between me and the door. That might not be the safest place for you to be,” I told them with a bravado I didn’t feel.

“The mixed blood threatens us, Gront,” laughed the pale man, “isn’t that cute?”

“I’m sorry; did I beat you to it? Let me guess, you’re the one who’s going to threaten me, and your big friend is the strong silent type who does all the dirty work. A bit cliché, aren’t you?” I retorted.

The Vampire frowned, looking very annoyed with me. “Listen up, girlie, this can go one of two ways: You can come peacefully, or we can have some fun with you before taking you in for the reward. They want your blood, and it's worth just as much whether we rough you up or not. I’d prefer to take you in alive and relatively unharmed.”

“Just like a visit to the Red Cross, huh? I come in, give some blood, maybe get some juice and a cookie, and then go on my merry way. Is that what you’re offering?” I replied coolly.

“Hardly,” he snorted dismissively. “I’m very eager to see why your blood is so special; once they get theirs, I want a little taste. If you’re lucky, I may let you live on as my thrall.”

“Well, isn’t that sweet of you,” I responded with a roll of my eyes as I slowly slipped my hand into my purse and began to feel around frantically. “Is there some kind of benefits package that comes with that? Dental maybe? Never mind, as tempting as that offer is, I’ve never been much of a fan of working nights, and I get the feeling that would be a requirement. Sorry, but I’m gonna have to take a hard pass.” I felt the can in my purse and pulled it out to spray it in the Vampire’s face. “Have a taste of this, Asshole!”

I could hear the sizzling of his flesh and smelled it burning as the spray hit. Wisps of smoke rose from between his fingers, where he held his face in his hands as he screamed. “Arrrrrgggggh!” The big guy took that as his cue and hit me hard enough to send me flying back toward the bar. The stools in my path and the bar itself shattered at the impact, sending splinters of wood and other debris flying everywhere.

The world was spinning a bit as I lay there, and my jaw felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. I thought that it might be broken, and as I managed to shake it off and get unsteadily to my feet there was a grinding feeling in my jaw as my regeneration went to work. I winced and barely suppressed a yelp of pain as it popped back into place, and I glared across the room at the Ogre.

“Damn, that hurt,” I thought as I rubbed my tender jaw and stood up among the bar’s splintered remains. “You have a mean right hook; I’ll give you that. It felt like you almost took my head off with that.” Pete was standing nearby with the bartender and both looked very surprised that the punch hadn’t taken my head off. I gave them a shrug as I brushed the dust and rubble off my clothes and tried to shake off the fading bout of dizziness as my jaw finished healing.

Joey had fled the scene after warning me, or more likely hid himself, so at least I wouldn’t have to worry about protecting him. With the Vampire temporarily out of action, right now it was just me and Gront, who was walking slowly toward me. “Okay, so that’s how it’s going to be huh? I hate you, you hate me, it’s time for things to get ugly,” I grumbled as I glowered menacingly at him, or rather I hoped it looked menacing.

I leaped toward him, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat, and hit him in the solar plexus with everything that I had. Everything I had turned out to be a bit much, as I sent him flying through the doors and the rain outside to collide with the run-down building on the other side of the street. ~Raven, are you okay?!~ Alice yelled in my mind.

~Oops. I guess that I still don’t know my own strength. You might want to call your parents and get them to send a clean-up crew. And a medical team in case any homeless people were in that building.~ I felt better than I had in my life, like nothing could take me down. My sense of power from the adrenaline rush and taking on the Ogre gave me confidence like I had never felt before. I turned around to find every eye in the place focused on me. “Is anyone else stupid enough to fuck with me tonight?”

The bar’s patrons all hurriedly looked away and returned to their drinks as I focused my attention on the Vampire again. His face was very badly burned, and it looked painful, but I wasn’t feeling particularly sympathetic at the moment. “Oh, you’re still here, fang-tastic. You might have missed it while your face was melting, but I just taught your big purple friend how to fly, he really needs to work on those landings though. So, tell me, are you ready for Flight 101, or are you smart enough to leave on your own power?” The Vampire took one look at me cracking my knuckles, then at the remains of both the bar and the doors and fled into the night.

I retracted my wings and claws as I retrieved my purse from where it had fallen on the floor and then I stepped out the gaping hole where the doors had been to make my way back to the Jeep. As I opened the driver’s side door, I noticed that the wall of the abandoned building the Ogre had crashed into had a massive hole in it and looked almost ready to collapse. I silently hoped that there was nobody inside to get hurt as I climbed into the driver’s seat and closed the door, turning to Alice. “Well, that was fun. I know where I can get the info needed to find my aunt, and I got a bit of exercise. Did you let your parents know to send a clean-up crew?”

~Yes, they’re sending a medical team like you asked and a Psychic to implant memories for any human witnesses and the emergency response teams. I don’t think there were any witnesses around, but it’s hard to see properly in this heavy rain.~ She followed my gaze to the damaged building and assured me, ~The Psychic will check for any injured people in the building there too. What the hell happened?~

“It looks like someone among the Demons was smart enough to put a price on my head and let the local scum try their luck, instead of risking their own lives,” I explained. “A Vampire and an Ogre decided to try to collect. I maced the Vamp and the Ogre and I exchanged blows. The Ogre lost and is probably napping in that building over there.”

~There’s a bounty on you? We’ll need to let the PDA know about that. Paranormals could attack us at home,~ she replied, sounding worried.

“Don’t worry,” I said with a shrug, “a flock of Gryphons have apparently adopted me and will be watching the house for us. They probably won’t fight anything, but they will warn us. Also, I don’t think the Demons were very forthcoming about the details of the bounty. They only knew it was me because of my wings, so I think they only gave a description and not much detail.”

The Mermaid nodded as she replied thoughtfully, ~You’ll have to be careful about showing off then.~ That was when the other part of what I said earlier seemed to sink in. ~Wait, what? You punched an Ogre hard enough to send it through the doors, across the street, and through that wall?~

“Umm yeah... I guess I don’t know my own strength,” I responded sheepishly.

~If you did that, then the word strength may be an understatement. You didn’t get hurt, did you?~ she asked in concern.

I shook my head. “He hit me pretty good, but I was okay other than a sore jaw and some dizziness. He wasn’t as tough as he looked, and I heal quickly.” Telling her that he probably broke my jaw would have only worried her further, and besides, I healed up fine, so I kept that to myself.

~So, what did you find out about your aunt?~ she pressed.

“I found out that she races cars on Saturday nights and I can get the details on when and where,” I replied as I started the car. “Once I find out where and when she’s racing tomorrow night, I have a pretty good idea of how to get her alone for a little chat. First, though let’s grab that pizza we came out to get and go home so I can sign up for that mailing list.”

Alice thought it best that we waited for the PDA to show up before we left, but they arrived fairly speedily to clean things up. While we waited, we talked about when to have our first date, and what we wanted to do, though we were going to have to be careful if there really was a price on my head. Once the PDA showed and Alice had the medic take a look at me to make sure I didn’t have a concussion or something, we left the scene, stopped to pick up the pizza that was our excuse for being out, and headed home.

We opened the door to find Lydia waiting in the living room with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. “Where the fuck did you go to get that pizza? Italy?” I was about to answer her when she shushed me. “I had time to beat Erin at chess while you were gone, ten times.”

Erin, who was leaning against the wall, shrugged. “Hey, she’s crazy good at that game. So, did you find out anything useful?”

I rolled my eyes as we took the pizza into the kitchen. “It was a productive outing,” I admitted as I sat down, “let’s all have a seat and eat, and I’ll fill you in.”

Once we were all seated and nibbling at our pizza Erin asked, “So, how productive was it?”

I sat back and thought for a moment before casually listing off the night’s accomplishments. “Let’s see, Alice asked me out on a date; I got adopted by a flock of Gryphons who have offered to watch the house for intruders; I found out how to contact my aunt, the street racer; I discovered that Grandpa’s lackeys have put a bounty on my head; and I now know that Para Mace gives Vampires one hell of a sunburn and Ogres can fly… if you hit them hard enough. Though, when they land, they cause significant property damage.”

Erin just sat there and stared at me. “I… I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Tell me everything that happened. Now,” Lydia said sternly. In her current form, it looked more like she was pouting about missing out on it rather than being pissed off about me deliberately putting myself in danger, but I knew better. So, as we ate, I carefully related everything that had happened since Alice and I got to the bar. When I finished, Erin was gaping at me and Lydia almost looked proud.

I had turned on my laptop and was accessing the website to sign up for the mailing list when Erin muttered, “I knew I should have come with you. You traded punches with an Ogre and won. I would have loved to see that.”

“For all that we know they have a price on your head too, those demons weren’t too pleased when you Manifested and came to my defense. And you don’t have my strength and durability,” I pointed out.

“You’re such a downer,” she replied, “can I at least come tomorrow when you try to find your aunt?”

“Sure thing,” I said with a grin, “I’m going to need somebody to drive my car back here if my plan goes smoothly. I’ll warn you now though; I don’t plan on getting into any fights tomorrow.”

~You didn’t plan on getting into any tonight either,~ Alice pointed out helpfully.

“Very funny, Alice,” I replied as I finished typing my email address to subscribe to the mailing list and sighed. “There we go. Hopefully, by tomorrow afternoon I’ll know exactly where and when the race starts, and then all I’ll need to worry about is what to tell her when I see her. If she and Mom really did have a falling out, then she might not be very keen on helping me.”

“You should take the letter along, just in case,” Erin suggested. “You might be able to use it to help convince her. Hopefully, she won’t hold a grudge against you for her beef against your mom, and if she’s gotten over whatever it was then the letter might help sway her.”

“If she’s anything like your mother she’ll be hard to read. Your mother didn’t like showing weakness if she could help it,” Lydia suggested. “Siv was a sucker for defending the weak and those in danger though, so if you use the angle that you’re being hunted by Demons, her sister may feel compelled to help you.”

“That does have possibilities,” I admitted. “So, are you suggesting I play the weak little damsel in distress?”

The Imp shook her head. “No, she’d never buy that, especially if she somehow hears about tonight’s little adventure before you get to meet her. I would suggest that you stick to the truth as much as possible. Demons are after you and you don’t know how to use any of your abilities, but you need to learn how so you can defend yourself and others.”

“Will that work if word about tonight gets around before I see her? I proved that I can protect myself tonight,” I replied, feeling pretty proud of myself.

Lydia shook her head, causing her pigtails to swing with the movement. There was a cute frown on her adorable face, and I could almost forget she wasn’t a real little girl until she spoke. “Tonight was a fucking fluke, Raven; you caught those two jackasses at the bar with their pants down. What saved you was that surprise that you had in your purse and the fact that they thought you were just a pretty face and underestimated your resilience and strength. After tonight though, once word gets around, those hunting you are going to be more careful when dealing with you. Few, but the most arrogant, are going to come right out and challenge you. They will attempt to catch you by surprise or goad you into a trap.”

I sank down into my chair, knowing that she was right. “Thank you, Captain Killjoy.”

~She’s right Raven,~ Alice put in, echoing my own thoughts. ~The reason you were looking for your aunt in the first place was to learn to control your abilities. Tonight proved that you need that still. Your first thought was to defend yourself with the mace when you could have easily taken out the Vampire yourself, and when you did decide to attack the Ogre, you didn’t think about tactics. You just threw yourself at him, punched as hard as you could, and prayed. You underestimated your strength as badly as they did and didn’t even consider using your claws. If you don’t learn to fight properly you could be a danger to everyone in the area if someone does decide to attack you.~

“Yeah, I was very lucky that there was nobody in that condemned building the Ogre landed in. I guess I was a little overconfident just now. I was just happy that for the first time in my life, I was able to defend myself. No Lydia protecting me from everything in the world, and no Erin or the PDA jumping in to save my ass, it was all me. It was exciting and I felt so confident.”

Erin leaned over to hug me. ‘You’ll feel even more confident when it’s not a fluke, so try not to get too down. To be honest, I really envy you and Alice.”

Alice blinked, looking like she wasn’t sure that she had heard Erin correctly. ~Why do you envy us? Out of the three of us, you’re the only one who can fit in with humans without having to always concentrate on keeping some part of your real self hidden. We also must constantly think about things most people never have to consider. I have to get most of my panties, pants, and such enchanted so that they aren’t destroyed, but rather sent to a pocket dimension, if I have to suddenly change form.~

I nodded vigorously in agreement. “And I can’t wear any kind of clothes that get in the way of my wings. Do you know how boring it is to wear halter tops all the time? Even bras and bikini tops are a pain to wear. I have to wear backless ones if I don’t want them damaged, and even then, it’s not a sure thing.”

Erin shrugged. “Okay, I’ll give you that. Those things must be a pain in the ass, but you both can do amazing things that are useful in our current predicament. Raven: You’re strong, hardly anything can hurt you, and someday you’ll be able to fly. Alice: You can breathe underwater, you have Water magic, and you’re learning to use guns. What can I do? I talk to cats, and I leave my body helpless with the one useful skill I do have. I’m just sitting on the sidelines while you both improve yourselves.”

“Bullshit,” I said, frowning at the Shaman. “When we were tested you had amazing agility, reflexes, and flexibility, and your sense of balance is incredible. If you want to learn some way to physically improve yourself, take martial arts lessons or something. And I’m sure once you’ve had more practice as a Shaman your skills will be really useful. Peter said the PDA doesn’t have anyone like you on staff, and I would imagine ghosts are just as big a Paranormal threat as anything else.”

~She’s right,~ Alice agreed. ~Mom said the Chief of the PDA policing division is chomping at the bit trying to figure out how to recruit both of you once those Demons are taken care of. When he read the report on you, he saw a lot of potential for someone who may be able to communicate with spirits. I’m sure that if you asked my parents, they would be able to set up martial arts lessons with the woman who trains our interested agents. Dad and I could teach you to use a gun too if you want, you need to learn to defend yourself just as much as Raven does.~

“The PDA wants to recruit me?” Erin asked looking stunned. “I can understand them wanting Raven, she’s built for monster hunting, but me?”

The tinkling of the Mermaid’s giggling echoed in my mind. ~Yeah, they can see uses for both of you. I wasn’t supposed to mention anything unless you showed interest since they want to leave it up to you, but I think the Chief would be more than happy to let you use the staff and facilities to learn to improve yourself if there’s a chance that you might be interested in becoming a Hunter.~

“There’s more than a chance,” Erin replied, beaming. “Ever since we got pulled into this whole Paranormal thing I’ve been wanting to get involved, but it looked like I was only able to sit and watch. Maybe we’ll be able to get on the same team.”

~It’s possible,~ Alice admitted. ~They do prefer team members who can work well together and get along.~

“How about you, Raven, are you in?” Erin asked with a pleading look. “I’d love to be able to do this with my best friend.”

I shook my head as I thought about it. “I’m not sure; I still kind of want to live a normal life if possible. I’ll think about it, but I won’t promise anything more than that.”

Erin seemed a bit disappointed but nodded. “I don’t want to pressure you to do something you don’t want to.” Then she turned to Alice, “Do you think we can call your parents and try to set up those lessons?”

~Yeah, they should be off shift by now and it’ll be a while before Mom goes to sleep, so she should have the time to talk about it,~ Alice replied.

“I’ll leave you girls to it then,” I managed to say through a yawn. “I’m going to head to bed; I have a busy day tomorrow.” Once the two of them headed to the living room I shut down my laptop and hugged Lydia tightly. “Good night, Lydia. Thanks for the dose of reality earlier, I needed it.”

The Imp hugged me back tightly. “Rest well; I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

 

 

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Author's Note: Here's the new chapter of Raven's Blood. Thanks to my readers and to BCTS for giving their support of Transgendered authors and fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 9: Family Secrets

The night’s race was set to start at ten o’clock at Arborlynn Park in North Vancouver, with the route taking them onto the Trans-Canada Highway to the finish line at Burnaby Lake. Erin and I made sure to be at the park by nine and once I found a spot that would give me a good view of the starting point I sent Erin home, promising to call her on my cell if I needed a ride home or ran into a snag. Then I was playing the waiting game until race time as the drivers, and those wishing to see the start of the race began to arrive.

Once the crowd had gotten big enough, it was a simple matter to blend in and watch the cars arriving. Before the race, each driver would have to leave their car for a short time to give their entrance fee to the one who would hold the money and take it ahead to the finish line to give the total amount to the winner. It looked like an Elfin woman was going to be holding the winnings, and I guess that made sense with what Alice had told Erin and me about the Fey. They can’t lie, they’re bound to promises, and while she would probably be able to teleport through the Wood Plane to reach the end of the race well before the drivers, she could be trusted not to steal the money.

When my target left her car to hand over her buy-in, that would be my chance. Rather than watching the Elfin woman who would be holding the money, I kept my eyes on the cars that pulled up to the starting line in the parking lot. It was near time for the race to start and so far, there were five entrants, but none of the cars matched the description I was given, and their drivers weren’t familiar to me.

Then a sleek-looking silver Nissan sports car joined the other cars at the starting point, and I watched the driver get out in keen interest. Pete had said that my target drove a silver Nissan, and this was the first car that fit that description. When the driver stepped out of the vehicle, my heart skipped a beat as I recognized her face from the photograph.

Her hair was short, blonde, and shaved at the sides and she wore a pair of jeans, a black leather jacket, and boots. I didn’t see any wings, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was her since her face looked just like in the photo I had memorized by now. She looked just like the photo. It was her, Lin Hansdotter, though she looked very good for her age, not much older than me. There was no telltale beep indicating that she locked the car when she left it and my lips curled up in a smile. Perfect.

While she made her way through the crowd to the Fey woman holding the pot, I slipped along the outer edge of the crowd toward her car. Then, while the crowd was distracted watching the assembled drivers pay their buy-in and trash-talk one another, I carefully opened the driver’s side door to her car, slipped inside, and made my way into the passenger’s seat, closing the door behind me as I sat back to wait.

The crowd outside was starting to get rowdy. The race was set to start in less than two minutes, judging by my watch, when the driver climbed into the car. “Hello,” I said with a smile as she settled into the driver’s seat.

“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell do you think you’re doing in my car?” she snapped with a slight Scandinavian accent. I figured the darkness in the car was working to my advantage because otherwise my face, so much like my mother’s, would have given me away.

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat as I replied, “I’m someone who really needs your help.”

To my surprise, she laughed. “Are you trying to annoy me to keep me from starting this race on time? Trying to help a friend out? Or is this some sort of dare? Look, kid, you have exactly ten seconds to either get out of this car or fasten your seatbelt because I am starting this race whether you’re here or not. So, whoever put you up to this is out of luck.”

I fastened my seatbelt as I insisted, “I’m not leaving this car until you agree to help me.”

“Fine, be that way.” The Valkyrie started the car and began to rev the engine. The flag, in the form of the lacy pink bra of the girl who was holding it, was dropped and she floored it, causing us to launch forward among the sound of squealing tires as the sudden momentum pushed me back in my seat. She quickly pulled ahead of three of the drivers, leaving only two cars ahead of us. “You know kid, I might be more open to helping you if I knew exactly what kind of help you need,” she said after a short time of staring intently at the road and cars in front of us.

“There are Demons after me; they put a price on my head. I need you to teach me how to fight,” I admitted.

She laughed again as she responded, “I race cars, kid, what makes you think I know anything about fighting?”

“And here I thought that all Valkyries were great warriors,” I said, leaning back casually in my seat.

To her credit, the car only swerved a little bit at my comment, sending my heart racing. She also didn’t try to deny it. “I gave up fighting a long time ago, kid, and there are plenty of Paranormals out there who can teach you to fight. You can get the PDA to help you.”

“I don’t need other Paranormals,” I stated firmly, “I need a Valkyrie. I need you.”

“I don’t know what you’ve heard about Valkyries, but there is one thing I will tell you. We don’t share our teachings with outsiders. Our customs, our fighting styles, and our abilities are just that, ours. To share them with outsiders opens us to defeat.” We were making our way onto the highway now and there were more lanes available and more room to maneuver. The Valkyrie gritted her teeth as she considered the cars ahead of us, and the other traffic on the highway. “Hold on, kid, I’m hitting the NOS.”

I was pushed back into my seat once again as the sudden acceleration sent us rocketing forward. Deft movements of Lin’s hands wove us through traffic, and ahead of the other drivers. With each near collision, I feared that I might just need my Demon regeneration. My aunt’s face though wore a look of sheer bliss and exhilaration. She looked over at me and laughed, “What’s the matter, kid? Are you afraid of dying?”

I watched as the world sped by at unsafe velocities and, swallowing my fear, I turned to the Valkyrie in the driver's seat to ask, "Can't you go any slower?" I wasn’t too concerned about dying, but if there was an accident at this speed and I did live, healing was probably going to hurt a lot.

"And lose this race?" She turned to look at me incredulously before shaking her head. "Not a chance in Hel, kid. Racing is my thing, and I don't lose to or for anybody."

"The road! Keep your eyes on the damn road!" I shrieked before biting my lip and closing my eyes, hoping this would be over soon as I muttered, "You don't act like a Valkyrie. I thought you were warriors and the handmaidens of Odin."

I could hear her snort distastefully beside me, “Oh, I’m sorry, am I not living up to the stereotype? Shall I get you a beer? Or would you rather I just kick your ass?” She sighed, and opening my eyes I discovered that her eyes were again on the road and her face was grim. "Get one thing straight, kid; Valkyrie’s serve no man, ‘God’ or otherwise."

"But..." I began before she cut me off.

"Look, kid, my patience is wearing thin with you. Now be quiet so I can win this race. You had better spend that time thinking about the next words that come out of your mouth, because if you want me to help you then you're going to have to give me a damn good reason."

We were both quiet for the remainder of the drive and, after a second well-timed burst of nitrous, crossed the finish line in the lead. Lin left the car for a time and returned, counting her winnings as she settled back into the driver's seat. Then those cold blue eyes looked me over as she said, "You're still here? You have five words to convince me why I should help you or get out of my car."

I looked right into those eyes, swallowed the lump that was rising in my throat, and said, "Siv Demarco was my mother."

“Siv,” she said in barely a whisper. “You said she was your mother? Past tense?”

I nodded sadly as I withdrew the note from my purse and offered it to her. “I never really knew her; she died seventeen years ago when I was still a baby. She left me this note in a room that only I could enter that told me to look for you.”

She looked at me in the dim light of the car. “You look like her, but are you sure you’re a Valkyrie? We’re always blonde, and your hair is black.”

“So are my wings, “I said with a shrug. “I’m a mixed-blood, my father was half Demon, and the mixing of blood caused me to be born like this. The note has some of the details. I have some Demon abilities, but mostly I take after my mom. The PDA put me through some pretty vigorous testing, and they said I’m aligned to the Divine, but I don’t have the strong gift that she had with Divine magic. Peter said he sensed a Divine ability that was similar to something that he sensed in my mom, but he had no idea what it could be.”

“He probably sensed your andivapn, every true Valkyrie has one.” She paused to read the note, and when she was done, I was surprised to see tears rolling down her cheeks. She stepped out of the car and was quiet for several minutes before returning to the driver’s seat and closing the door. “Siv always was selfless. If she’s been dead for seventeen years though, why are you seeking me out now? The note mentioned that you were sealed.”

I nodded as I took the note back and carefully folded it before putting it back in my purse. “She wanted me to be able to live a normal human life until I was ready to learn about my heritage. She put a failsafe on the seal though, so that it would break if I ever needed to defend myself against Demons. On Halloween that happened, and two weeks ago I went down into the basement and discovered a room with old weapons and armor and a bunch of old books and scrolls. That’s where I found the note, and nobody could enter the basement but me.”

“That sounds like Siv alright; she always liked to be prepared for anything. How much do you know about Valkyries?” she asked as she started the car.

“Only what I’ve read in my class on Norse Mythology,” I admitted.

“Figures,” she said with a snort, “that’s why you pulled out that idiocy about us serving Odin.”

“We don’t fight for the Gods then? Or decide who lives and dies on the battlefield?” I asked, just a little disappointed.

“Odin and the other Aesir are no more Gods than we are, I am no closer to whatever Gods are up there than any mortal is, and I’m just as unsure as to whether they exist,” she replied. “And Valkyries don’t decide who lives and dies on the battlefield any more than any other warrior; we slay our enemies and attempt to heal our injured comrades, and if a good friend dies honorably in battle, then we will do our best to make it a death worthy of legend.”

“I guess I have a lot to learn then,” I sighed.

Lin nodded as she put the car into gear and started driving. “Let me give you an abbreviated history of our people. We, like the Aesir, were one of the first races of Paranormals, and in that age people often mistook us for Gods. Our language was the basis for the Germanic dialects that came after. When humans began to form a more complex society and their numbers increased, our people decided that we would leave them to develop without our interference. We Valkyries numbered less than five hundred and our allies, the Aesir, were not much more than that. Despite our power, the humans outnumbered us greatly.”

I interrupted her to ask, “If we were around for so long why were there so few of us?”

“There are two reasons for that,” she explained. “First, human lives are so short that they tend to reproduce exponentially, to leave something of themselves behind when they die. Aesir and Valkyries are ageless; we have all the time in the world to have children unless something manages to kill us, so we’re not in a hurry to have kids. Second, being only a female race, we Valkyries have to reproduce with humans or other Paranormals. We only seemed to have female children and there weren’t many children period since we vowed to leave humans to their own devices, and by necessity, we were aloof from the other Paranormal races.”

“What do you mean by ageless?” I asked nervously.

“What do you think I mean by ageless?” she snapped. “We’re immortal. We usually Manifest around our mid-teens and by the end of our teens, we stop aging completely. That’s why, despite being over one thousand two hundred years old, I look no older than you do. And before you ask, yes you won’t age either, Valkyries are all or nothing. I believe that you’re not so much a mix of Demon and Valkyrie, but rather a Valkyrie with some Demonic attributes thrown in.”

“Why can’t I use Divine magic like my mother could then?”

“It’s not an inherent ability of our kind; it’s a talent, like painting or cooking. Some people are great at it, some are okay, and some have no talent at all. You may not have a strong talent for it, but you could probably learn the basics with hard work and practice,” she said with a shrug. “You would probably be better off putting that effort into learning to fight though. Now, are you going to let me finish our history or not?”

“Sorry,” I replied sheepishly, “please go on.”

"Thank you,” she said before continuing. “We kept ourselves out of human affairs and didn’t stray often from our village in the mountains of Norway. Despite our lack of potential mates when we cut contact with humanity and most other Paranormals, we did have close ties to the Aesir and my mother gave birth to two daughters. Your mom was my true sister and was born close to one hundred years before I was. Not long after I had finished my training as a warrior, the Aesir Thor came to our village to request our aid. The Frost Giants had managed to open a portal to our plane from their home in the Frozen Plane and were intent on conquest.”

“And you and Mom offered to help them?” I guessed.

She shook her head sadly. “The entire village was mobilized to stop them. They greatly outnumbered us and the Aesir, but while we vowed to not interfere in the human world, neither would we let any harm come to those who would not be able to defend themselves. The Frost Giants were thirty feet tall and frighteningly strong; the humans wouldn’t have stood a chance. Your grandmother, and close to three-quarters of our warriors, died in the first offensive. The Aesir took similar losses, and it was decided that we would make one last offensive to push them back into the portal while Loki and your mother found a way to close it permanently. I was one of four Valkyries, and six Aesir, who stayed behind to protect them while they worked.”

I watched her intently until she paused, then I pressed, “So what happened then?”

“They found a way to close the portal, and keep it closed, and we called a retreat. Our kin kept fighting on the other side until the Aesir got clear with our wounded. They kept fighting, even as the portal closed. Our wounded didn’t survive long enough for us to heal them. The Aesir offered the five of us who remained a place in their hidden village, Asgard, but we decided to wander and live among the humans. When there were threats from Paranormals who would try to rule the humans, we would offer our services to those who would protect them.”

“The five from the photographs,” I realized. “What happened to the other three?”

“We lost our remaining comrades in Germany during World War Two,” she said sadly. “Hitler employed Demons, to try and put a quicker end to the war, and we joined other Paranormals from the allied forces to stop them. Ashilda was taken out by an artillery shell to the back. Unne and Syn were captured, and the Demons tortured them to death before we could save them. After the war was over Siv and I decided to move overseas to Canada, to attempt to make a new start among the humans here, and we gave up fighting.”

“Mom said in her note that you two had a falling out, did it have something to do with that?” I asked.

She nodded as she turned the steering wheel to take a left turn. “In the late nineties, just before the new millennium, your mother couldn’t take sitting on the sidelines anymore. Battle was in her blood, and she always had a soft spot for humanity. She wanted us both to join the PDA with her boyfriend, Nick, to help protect the humans from Paranormal threats and vice versa. I had started racing cars by then and didn’t want to go back to fighting when I could risk my life just as easily behind a steering wheel, or on a motorcycle. We both said some things that we regretted and went our separate ways. We were both too stubborn to try to make up.”

I could feel the regret in her voice and felt bad for both her and my mom. How would things have turned out if they hadn’t been so stubborn? “Huh?” I asked as I realized that she had said something more.

“I said that you’ve got a choice to make,” she repeated. “We are the last of our kind, do you want to embrace our traditions and become a warrior, or do you want me to hunt down those Demons for you? What kind of help did you come to me for? Think carefully, because this is the only time I’m going to offer you this choice.”

What did I want? Things would be so much easier if she killed them for me. I might be able to go back to a normal life, but I would also be a danger to others unless I learned to control my strength and other abilities. The mysterious ability Peter had sensed also had me burning with curiosity. Finally, I had to take into account that I was one of the last Valkyries, and my mother had hoped that I would be a warrior like her. Lin showed no interest in being a warrior anymore, so if I didn’t learn then thousands of years of tradition would end. Did I want it to end? I had a duty to my people, and myself, and there was that thrill that I got from fighting the Ogre as well. Finally, I said, “I want to become a warrior.”

“Congratulations, you’ve passed your first test; a true Valkyrie never lets anyone else fight her battles.” She took another left turn, and I realized that I had no idea where we were.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I looked out the window for familiar landmarks.

“We’re going to my hotel to get some clothes and other things I’ll need if I’m going to be training you. We’ll need to figure out a safe location I can take you to for training as well,” she replied.

“My basement has mats and some weapons and equipment, and the wards Mom placed there should keep us safe,” I suggested.

She shook her head. “It’s not big enough; we’ll need someplace outdoors. Traditionally we took trainees away from the village and into the woods to train. Learning to use the lay of the land in tactics is part of the training. We’ll need to buy camping supplies and enough food to last a while. Even with a Valkyrie’s natural fighting ability the training can take months, so the sooner we start the better.”

“We can go buy supplies tomorrow, and I think maybe Erin or Alice can help us find a place away from prying eyes to train,” I suggested.

We pulled into the underground parking lot for the Nordic Hotel, one of Vancouver’s older high-class hotels. She parked right beside the elevator, and once we were inside, she pressed the button for the penthouse. At first, I thought she was playing a prank on me, but after a long elevator ride, she walked right up to one of the two penthouse suites and slid her key into the lock. “Come on in,” she offered, “make yourself at home.”

The living room of the penthouse was decorated in earth tones, with expensive-looking furniture, soft cream-colored carpet, and prints of famous paintings. I stared around me in wonder trying to picture the racing queen living in such luxury, but I just couldn’t see it. “You live here? How the hell can you afford a penthouse?”

“I don’t have to pay to live in the penthouse since I co-own the hotel.” I must have had quite the expression on my face because looking at me caused her to laugh. “Do you really think a girl can live over a thousand years and not have a decent nest egg set aside? Your mother and I didn’t spend all our wandering time fighting you know. There was always money to be made working as some Paranormal’s private bodyguards, and some of the little things we collected in our youths are worth a lot now. In the fifties I started playing with our money on the stock exchange, our portfolio is pretty versatile.”

“Our portfolio?” I thought, still somewhat in shock, and now very confused. I was also starting to get a headache from keeping my wings hidden for so long. Since we were safe inside, I decided to let them out for some air.

The other Valkyrie gasped at the sight. “You weren’t kidding about them being black. It’s probably because of the Demon influence, I see you have claws too. I’ll take those into account while I’m training you; they give you an advantage while unarmed.” She let out her own white wings and I stared at them for a while, wondering if that was what my mom’s looked like in person.

I felt myself starting to tear up. “You two were together for over a thousand years; it must have been hard staying apart like you did.”

Lin nodded and looked around in the drawer of an antique desk, coming up with a key. “This is the key to the other penthouse. It was your mother’s money too; she owned half of the investments, the hotel, and everything else. I kept her name on all the ownership papers… I guess we should change it to your name now. When we had our big fight and she left, I never had the heart to rent out her penthouse. When she left, she only took her weapons, armor, and books but I’ve always considered half of what I have hers if she ever came back.”

My aunt paused and let out a long sigh, her face a mask of mourning as she admitted, “I may have been too stubborn to go look for her to make up, but I would have welcomed her back in an instant. The income from the hotel and our investments go into a joint account; I’ll have to change her name to yours on that too. I know you already said that you have a house, but this can be your home away from home if you want. Your penthouse won’t be rented out unless you want it to be and I've placed wards to keep anyone from sensing Paranormals in this hotel or scrying on anyone staying here, so it's fairly safe.”

I took the key and stared at it as I thought about her out-of-date address in the PDA records. “If you lived here all this time, how come the PDA had another address for you?”

“I have never fully trusted any government agency like the PDA; there’s too much chance that they can take advantage of the Paranormals they’re supposed to protect. So, when I registered, I gave them my secondary address, the one I used as a cover. It made Siv happy that I was in the system in case I ever needed help, and it kept them from getting too intrusive. All the staff here are either Paranormals or know about them, they are paid well enough to stay loyal and keep secrets, and the wards keep them safe from Paranormal predators and human Hunters. I will let them know who you are and that you are the other owner of the hotel.”

“Are you sure we can trust them?” I asked uncertainly. “The Demons have put a bounty on me.”

“I’ve known most of these people since they were born. Their parents, and sometimes grandparents, worked for me and Siv,” she replied candidly. “I trust them far more with both of our lives than I do the PDA.”

“I’ll trust your judgment then,” I agreed before asking tentatively, “Why didn’t my mom just tell me about the hotel in the letter? It would have made finding you easier.”

“Valkyries believe that if you want something it should be earned, and that includes training,” she replied with a shrug. “It’s a tradition that young Valkyries have to search for their chosen instructors and find them on their own before they can begin training. They can be given one or two clues, but beyond that, they need to use their own skills and resources. Siv was following that tradition by only giving you my name and picture.”

“I see,” I mumbled. I guess that made sense, even if finding her using only a picture in a city the size of Vancouver had been annoyingly difficult.

Then my aunt went to a door and opened it before turning around to ask, “Did you want to stay here tonight? You can look over your suite and see if you like it. It’s getting late, and I should get some paperwork started to change Siv’s name to yours on the records while I’m thinking of it. What is your full name anyway? It only said Raven on the note.”

I was a bit uncertain about her, but she seemed to have really loved my mom and was willing to accept me as her niece. “Sure, I’ll just call home to let my roommates know I won’t be coming home tonight.” I suddenly felt silly for not introducing myself properly earlier as I added, “My name is Raven Lin Demarco.”

I could see her eyes moistening and could have sworn that her breathing hitched. It was a long, quiet moment before she spoke again. “She always was too sentimental for her own good, but then, I would have named my daughter after her too. Why don’t you go get settled in and call home while I leave a message for my lawyer about the paperwork, and start sorting out what we’ll need for our trip? If you get hungry, the kitchen offers room service twenty-four seven.”

“Thanks, Aunt Lin, I’ll do that. Good night, I’ll see you in the morning.” I left the apartment and closed the door to leave her alone with her memories.

Once I had used the key to open the door to my new penthouse apartment and managed to find a light switch, I stepped inside to look around. It felt strange thinking of this place as mine. The living room was decorated in the same tasteful fashion as my aunt’s, with earth tones, thick cream carpeting, and fine artwork. The couch and chairs were upholstered with real black leather, and the coffee table and antique desk looked to be made of oak. Before I went to explore the rest of the apartment though, I decided to phone home. Erin picked up after the first ring and I was concerned that I might have worried her as she quickly answered, “Raven? Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Erin. You can start breathing again,” I replied.

I could hear her let out a long breath on the other end before she began rapidly firing questions at me. “Did you find her? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“Calm down, I’m fine, and yes, I did find her, and she’s agreed to train me. As for where I am, I’m in one of the penthouse suites of the Nordic hotel,” I told her. “My aunt lives in the other penthouse.”

“Thank goodness you’re alright,” she said, letting out another long breath before continuing. “How can a woman who races cars for money afford a penthouse apartment in a fancy hotel like that?”

“I think the racing is just for the thrill of it, she owns the hotel,” I replied. “Or rather, we own it, since she co-owned it with my mom and now my mom’s share, and her penthouse, is being passed on to me.”

“You own a hotel?!” I could almost hear her jaw drop.

“Co-own, but yes from what I’m told this hotel belongs to me and my aunt, and this lavish penthouse suite is mine to use as I wish. From what she was saying, it sounds like we have a lot of money too.”

“The trust fund your mom left you and now this? How are you so fucking rich?” she asked, sounding flustered. “Were your mom and aunt part of the Scandinavian Paranormal mafia or something?”

I chuckled at her reaction. If she reacted like that to what I just told her, how would she react to what I planned on saying next? Once I thought I could manage to say it without laughing I answered, “Apparently, living for over a thousand years gives a person plenty of time to save money and my aunt plays the stock market with part of what they saved.”

Erin laughed on the other end. “I must have misheard you; I could have sworn you just said your aunt is a thousand years old.”

“Actually, she’s over one thousand two hundred years old,” I clarified. “My mom was even older when she was killed; Valkyries stop aging once they reach adulthood, I guess. Alice did tell us that there were immortal species of Paranormals.”

“Yeah, but I never thought that you might be one of them. It does make sense why the women in those photos all looked alike though. Damn, life must get boring after that long,” she muttered.

“I think that’s why Valkyries are warriors actually, and why my aunt likes racing,” I replied thoughtfully, “when you can’t die by normal means life loses its meaning. So, they look for ways to constantly put themselves in the position where something could kill them, and cheat death to make themselves feel more alive.”

“You could be right about that, it kind of makes sense. Jamie would have loved to do a paper on something like that, the psychological implications of immortality and all that.” She stopped talking for a moment before saying, “I just told Alice that you’re fine and you’re with your aunt, she’s going to let Lydia know so she’ll stop swearing and pacing a hole in the floor. Do you need me to come to pick you up?”

“No, I’ll be staying here tonight,” I answered. “By the way, my aunt wants to take me somewhere secluded for training once we can make preparations. Could we use your family cabin?”

“I would say yes, but there are usually a lot of tourists in that area of the island and the last thing we need is a picture of two women with wings on the six o’clock news.” There was another silence as she seemed to be considering the problem. “Maybe the PDA will know of a secluded spot without prying human eyes. You could come to the office with me tomorrow afternoon; I need your strength anyway.”

“Why do you need my strength?” I asked. “I thought you were going for a martial arts lesson, I really wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

My friend laughed. “I need you to carry my grandfather’s chest, that thing is damn heavy. After my martial arts lesson, I’m meeting with a Faith Healer that the PDA called in from Japan. She arrives tomorrow and they think that she might be able to help me with my training. They want me to bring all the Shaman stuff to the training center so we can work on the training there.”

That’s going to be a pain in the ass for you to drag back and forth while I’m gone,” I pointed out.

“Don’t worry about it; they’re letting me keep it there under lock and key. I don’t want to be hauling that thing around anymore than I have to.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you, but I don’t think I’ll be able to convince my aunt to come, she doesn’t seem to trust the PDA,” I answered. “I’ll be home before we have to go. I’m going to take a look around to see what this place is like and then go to sleep.”

“Good night, Raven, have fun.” She disconnected the call, and I stepped further into the apartment to look around. Everything was kept clean and free of dust and looked very modern. Lin must have really hoped to make up with my mom if she didn’t rent the place out but kept it as modern and comfortable as possible. The place was absolutely massive with an open living room, a dining room with a crystal chandelier, and a large oak table with six chairs that were noticeable as soon as I entered. There was also a modern kitchen with a huge refrigerator and a gas stove, library, media room, wine room, large master bathroom with both a shower and Jacuzzi, laundry room, powder room, and an empty room with a skylight that I thought might be a solarium.

I found three large bedrooms early on, two of which had access to a balcony overlooking the city and the ocean beyond. The bedrooms were all tastefully decorated with different color themes, earth tones, and blues for the two that accessed the balcony and soft pink and deep rose for the one beside the master bathroom. Each contained a comfortable-looking bed, dresser, two large closets, bedside tables, and a desk.

When I finally stepped out onto the balcony from one of the bedrooms, I discovered that it went along the side of the building, to be accessible by the living room as well. It continued on even further than that and I walked around the corner at the end to find that the balcony became a large terrace that overlooked the bay, North Vancouver, and the mountains beyond. There was wooden patio furniture, a barbeque, and a hot tub, but in the late evening light, I had to get close to make out much detail on anything. I stepped back inside the apartment by a glass door on the terrace to find myself in what I thought must be the master bedroom.

Once I found a light switch, I discovered that the master bedroom was decorated in soft creams and dark red. It was furnished much like the other bedrooms, but instead of a double bed, it housed a king-sized, four-poster canopied bed with satin sheets and a warm and cozy-looking comforter. And rather than the regular-sized closets, there were two massive walk-in closets, which were currently empty. One of the room’s other two doors led back toward the dining room and kitchen while the other led to a large en-suite bathroom decorated in cool aquamarine and ivory with a large Jacuzzi, a larger shower, two sinks, a vanity area, and all the regular necessities.

This was the kind of place I would never have spent my money on, even if I could have afforded it before now. So much space just for me felt wasteful and an unnecessary expense. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy it though, especially that bed. Once I finished my tour I returned to the master bedroom, quickly shed my clothes, and climbed under the sheets. I stayed up, exchanging texts with Alice for a while, but the soft bed had me asleep minutes after I set my phone aside.