Chapter Nine
A few hours later, the door opened, and Tanya walked in. Her large blue wings fluttered rapidly behind her, and she closed the door, before perching on the edge of my bed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m still being held here against my will. How should I be feeling? Why are you even talking to me? Don’t you think I’m some kind of freak like Finn does? Shouldn’t you be glaring at me with disgust?”
She sighed. “It shouldn’t matter what choices your mother made when she was pregnant with you. They define what you are, not who you are, Ronnie. You’re still the same girl you were two days ago, and nothing is going to change that. So what if you’re a necromancer that was brought back from the dead. Who cares? I’m a fairy with magical abilities. I have wings, Ronnie.”
“I noticed,” I said dryly, making her laugh. “But that’s different. All fairies have wings, right? All necromancers aren’t brought back to life while still in the womb, right? You’re a freak. I’m a freak among freaks. How many people are going to react like Finn did? Will I be shunned everywhere I go for the rest of my life?”
“I’m not sure what Finn’s problem is. But to be honest, he’s not much of a people person–few werewolves are–but he doesn’t generally like women unless he’s sleeping with them.”
“What’s the deal with that?” I asked. “When we passed through the halls after my first meeting with the Council, like three girls gave him the look as we were walking by. And when he came back during my second Council meeting, he was disheveled and was buttoning up his pants.”
“Werewolves are notorious for being with many women. Probably because they’re such amazing lovers. It’s a werewolf thing. They’re stronger, faster, and have better endurance than normal human men. But they also tend to be the most faithful when they find that “special one”. Then they stay with that person for the rest of their lives.”
“What special one?”
“When werewolves fall in love, they go through a mating process. During sex, a werewolf will bite their mate to mark them–don’t worry, it doesn’t her for some reason I don’t understand–and then the two are bonded for life, and the werewolf becomes completely faithful. They’d do anything for their mates, including die for them. It’s very intense and beautiful.”
I thought about that for a minute. “So, someday Finn is going to be completely faithful to just one woman?” I snorted. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it. So, what else is special about all of these different supernatural beings?”
“Well, fairies like me can use magic and speak with animals. We can fly, and some can even create light with their minds. The more powerful ones can create illusions or read people’s minds.”
“How do fairies live? Do you guys have like a private neighborhood that you all live together in? Or do you live together in a forest?”
“We typically live in forests, in treetop villages way out of human sight. Even if a human gets anywhere near our villages, we have magic spells that enable us to turn them away and kind of erase their memories of our forest. They return home thinking they found nothing but trees and rocks.”
“What about vampires?”
“Well, vampires are the most different kind of supernatural. No supernatural ages after adulthood, but a vampire is the only one that stops aging when they get turned. A vampire could be five hundred years old and look like a six year old if that’s how old they were when they got turned. They also have to drink the blood of others to sustain themselves. If they stop, they get tired and become less tolerant of the sunlight, and they get slower and weaker.”
“Ok, what about shapeshifters?”
“Shapeshifters are humans that can take the shape of usually just one animal. Though a certain few have the ability to take the shape of any animal they want. They tend to live in packs of the same animal. Jaguars live with jaguars, lions live with lions, and so on…they also have enhanced speed and agility.”
“And witches?”
“Witches and sorcerers have the ability to use magic through the use of ancient artifacts and arcane spells. They sometimes have the ability to see the future, or look into the minds of others. Witches tend to be better at defensive spells, and sorcerers tend to be better at offensive spells. Nobody’s really sure why. But other than magic, they have no other gifts. They’re not stronger or faster than normal humans.”
“What other kinds are there?” I asked, purposely avoiding asking her about necromancers. Nancy explained a lot to me earlier, but I didn’t feel like learning more about it at the moment.
“Well, there are nymphs. They’re very shy and usually avoid humans, but when they do come around us, they’re very overtly sexual creatures. Seriously, they’ll have sex with anything so long as it has a pulse. There are also demons.”
“Demons?”
“Well, demons are horrible, disfigured monstrosities. They usually rape human women and impregnate them, resulting in half demons. They look human, but have secret monstrous forms. You know things like talons, wings, and tentacles. They can usually move things with their minds, and they have the ability to shift into their demon form. They call it “tapping into their demon heritage”.
“Have you ever seen a demon before?”
She shuddered. “Yes, and it was truly terrifying. There’s powerful and when they unleash their demon heritage, they tend to lose control and be unpredictable. They’ll kill anyone in their path. You haven’t asked me about necromancers. Or were you saving them for last?”
I sighed. “An old friend of my mother’s explained some things to me, but not everything. It’s just that, well, with everything that’s happened, I’m not really sure if I want to know what I’m capable of.”
“Ronnie, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Tanya said again. “Anyways, necromancers have the ability to see the ghosts of those that have died recently. Some ghosts hang around for longer than others. Some powerful necromancers can use talismans of power, like the one you’re wearing around your neck, to call spirits back into their bodies–temporarily of course. They can also use a more powerful spell to permanently raise the dead into mindless zombies that will do whatever is ordered of them. You may not look it, but you’re actually very powerful.”
A shiver ran through my. “Hooray.”
“Oh, Ronnie, I know you’re unhappy now, but I think with time you’ll find that being a supernatural being is actually quite fun. Living forever might seem like a bad thing at first, but it gets easier with a little time. Plus, being powerful in our community is a very good thing. People tend to judge based on power.”
“So, how long until I can come out? Or am I going to be locked in here for the rest of my life?”
“You’ve actually been able to leave for like the last twenty minutes. I was supposed to come here and tell you that, but we got talking. I figured you could use a friendly ear to listen. But now I can take you down to our cafeteria and get you something to eat.”
Tanya led me down to a small, brightly lit room that looked like a cafeteria, and I tried to memorize all the different hallways and doors for when I made my escape. There were just so many ways to go, I knew I’d never be able to leave this place without help of some kind, and with Finn following us, escape would be impossible. He was almost two doors behind us at all times, but I knew he was close enough to hear and see everything we said or did.
The cafeteria looked much like the one at my high school, with a few round tables scattered around the room, each with eight chairs circled around them. Right now, there were only five or six other people seated at tables, and the redheaded boy from earlier was one of them. Tanya led us right over to that table, and the boy looked up at us.
Tanya motioned to a chair, and I took a seat. “I’ll go get us some food. Ezra, introduce yourself.”
He flashed me a crooked smile. “My name’s Ezra Lord. It sounds kind of pompous, I know.” I giggled and he shook my hand. “I don’t know what Tanya mig
ht have told you, but I’ll just go ahead and say it. I’m a half-demon, with the ability to move things with my mind.”
As I watched, a fork slid across the table and right into his outstretched hand. He waved it in front of my face, and I realized my jaw was hanging open. I shut it with an audible click, and he chuckled. “I love getting that reaction from people.”
“That’s really cool,” I admitted nervously. I wasn’t sure how I felt about meeting new supernatural beings, since some of them were currently holding me against my will, but Tanya seemed to like him. If she liked him, he couldn’t be too bad of a person.
Tanya came back with two trays of food and she sat one down in front of me. It was pretty basic food like you would find in a high school cafeteria, but after going for so long without food, I practically inhaled the entire plate. I might have asked for seconds, if Tanya and Ezra weren’t both watching me with amazed looks on their faces.
When I finished, I pushed the tray away, and looked at Tanya. “How long has it been since I was kidnapped?”
She flinched at that word. “Um, I think it’s been like twelve hours or something like that. It’s almost dinner time right now.”
“My foster family is going to miss me,” I said. “Or did the people that abducted me leave a fake note saying I’d run away with none of my things or any money to survive?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Tanya said. “But I’m sure you’ll be home soon enough. Just give the Council some time to make sure you’re not a threat to us. Once they see that you’re just an ordinary necromancer, you’ll be free to go home and get back to your life.”
I sighed. “I wanna go home now, though. I really miss my cat. He sleeps with me every night and I feel kind of lost without him.”
“You know, there are a few cats that hang around here. We have another necromancer in the building and they follow her around like you would not believe. Well, I guess you would believe, since they probably follow you, too.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I usually have at least four or five cats following me, but Two Socks is the most constant of them. He always comes around. In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t found me here yet. How far away from my home are we right now?”
“Well, I think it’s about a twenty minute drive from your home. We have a secret compound in the middle of the woods, where we’re much less likely to get non-supernatural visitors. There are spells to repel humans from the area. It’s better if people can’t find us.”
“Why? You guys look human.” Except for the wings…
“Yeah, but there are other supernaturals out there that don’t like to live by our more civilized rules, and they’re a threat to us. It’s best to stay hidden from them as well, since they mean us harm.”
“Has there ever been an attack here before?”
“Nope,” Tanya said with a smile. “There are some really powerful beings here, and they wouldn’t dare attack us here at our compound. Of course, they’d have to find us before they could even consider attacking, and that’ll never happen. We’re very secretive with our location.”
“I know. Someone put a bag over my head while they were abducting me.” I hated the slightly hard edge to my voice, because it made Tanya look upset, but I couldn’t help it. I was kidnapped, and I wanted them to know I was angry about it.
Tanya patted me on the back, and when I looked at her, I noticed Finn standing against the far wall of the cafeteria, watching me with an attentive stare. “I’m sorry about all of this, but after a while here, you’ll begin to understand. We don’t do these things because we have to. There are powerful supernatural beings out there, like this necromancer we’re looking for, that use their gifts for bad instead of good. We have to take every precaution we can.”
“Right.” I didn’t really understand why she or the others thought these bad supernaturals were a problem, but I didn’t really care. I was determined not to be a part of this world, and I wouldn’t get involved in their dispute that had nothing to do with me.