by J. E. Cluney
“It was fine,” I shrugged.
“Really? Something tells me there’s more to it than that,” he chuckled, his dark eyes glittering with interest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He was a fair bit taller than me at roughly 6’2, with me at just 5’4, according to my driver’s license.
“Ugh, I had this douchebag come in. Wasn’t happy with the cake he ordered with his coffee, despite having eaten the whole thing,” I spat as I unlocked my door and headed in. I dumped my handbag on the white laminate counter and started taking off my name-tag and pendant. I always wore it out, but once home and alone, I liked to take it off sometimes. It was just something I did, to feel more like myself.
Little did I know it would be the first time I’d taken it off in front of Derek.
“What was wrong with the cake?” he asked as he slouched against the counter and ran his hand down the side of my face, making me sigh.
“Ugh, apparently it was too dry or some shit, but he made a huge scene out of it when I said there wasn’t much I could do since he’d eaten the whole thing. I offered him a replacement, but that wasn’t enough,” I rolled my eyes as the scene replayed in my head. That large, lumbering idiot had caused the whole shop to fall silent as they all watched the furious man bellowing about his cake. Seriously, who gets that pissed about cake?
“Whoa, what the fuck?” Derek stumbled back against the sink, and I frowned at him, before following his gaze the fruit bowl beside me.
The apple was convulsing, a small mouth forming as it hissed and shrieked in anger.
Small legs protruded, and it marched out of the bowl, soft snarls coming from it.
Great. Just what I wanted to eat right now. A goddamn apple.
“Sorry,” I muttered as I snatched it up and took a bite out of it, causing the small red apple to shriek and squirm in my grip.
“Ally, what the fuck is wrong with that apple?” Derek’s wide eyes were focused on the monstrosity I was munching into.
“Mischief magic apparently. I’m a pixie,” I sighed as I continued biting into the apple.
“A pixie?” Derek frowned and winced as I bit into the apple again. Its cries were dying down now, and soon it faded back to a normal apple as I ate right through to the core in record time.
“I thought you were fae,” he murmured as I tossed the core into the bin.
“No, you assumed that. I never corrected you, but my mother had pixie lines mostly,” I shrugged.
“Mischief magic,” he scowled, and I was taken aback by how his shoulders had risen.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I moved closer to him, but he stepped away from me with his eyes dark and stormy.
“You keep lying to me, not telling me things. You said I was your first boyfriend, but you obviously weren’t a virgin,” he scoffed as he shook his head. “And now you’re telling me you’re a pixie?”
“You know why I wasn’t a virgin,” I murmured, shifting uneasily at his sudden change in demeanor. It wasn’t the first time either.
“Because you were abused? You really expect me to believe that,” he spat. “And a pixie? C’mon. Everyone knows they’re always causing trouble. You’re probably lying about what happened to you,” he barked.
Wow. Full fucking change right there. Hold up.
“What the fuck?” I muttered, shocked at his words. How had the man I’d been falling for snap so suddenly like this? There had to be something else causing this outburst.
“Derek, what’s gotten into you?” I murmured as I moved backwards, my chest tightening as he balled his hands into fists.
“Nothing. I’m just sick of this, of your lies. You did this. You never come clean, you hid your past for over a month, even after we first had sex, you wouldn’t tell me the truth as to why you weren’t a virgin if I was your first boyfriend. Then you tell me some sob story to make me stay around. You refuse to come out to parties with me, and now you’re telling me you’re a pixie?” he threw his arms up in disbelief.
“Seriously? I work, a lot,” I growled as I snatched up my pendant from the counter. Better hang onto it in case my magic flared up. Didn’t need him going psycho even more. He’d switched like this before, always brought up my past after we had sex. He knew I hated it, hated being reminded, but he just couldn’t understand it.
“I didn’t tell you about my past because of exactly this, thinking you might freak out on me,” I said, hating how the tears threatened to spill and my voice hitched.
“I stayed with you, even when you didn’t want to have sex at first. I waited until you were ready, you kept going on that I was your first boyfriend, you wanted it to be right. But I wasn’t your first, you’re just a damn slut trying to throw others under the bus for your own mistakes. And you have days off, you could come out with me then,” he spat.
I just stared at him, trembling at the nasty look in his eye. Why was he so split like this? One day he was my charming boyfriend, treating me like the girl he loved, then the next he was hurling harsh words at me.
This wasn’t the man I’d fallen for. This wasn’t the man who’d spent a few nights teaching me how to shift, loping through the national park with me, as a dingo and wolf. This wasn’t the man I’d opened up to, had sex with. This was that nasty side that showed itself afterwards, that mean, cruel side that never failed to rear its ugly head.
“I don’t understand how such a small thing has turned into this,” I stammered, wrapping my arms around myself as he advanced on me.
Please, not again.
The slap knocked me against the counter, and I slid to the floor as I held my stinging cheek, the tears streaking down.
“Because you lie! I’m your partner. There shouldn’t be any lies between us,” he growled as he stood over me.
I awoke with my heart pounding and sweat beading on my forehead. So much for dreams that would take away my worries.
I sat up, drawing in a deep breath as I calmed myself, balling my shaking hands up as I pulled my knees to my chest.
Derek. My ex. My first ever boyfriend.
He’d always turned angry and violent when he got confused, upset, or scared. It was like he couldn’t accept those emotions, so he’d just lose it instead. That had been the last fight we’d had. I’d ended things after that and found a new rental. My boss was very understanding and banned him from the shop when I told her he’d hit me.
I didn’t tell her it wasn’t the first time.
I’d stayed with him despite his major mood swings, because he was my first boyfriend. And the abuse, the mental and physical? I’d grown up with that already. I’d thought it was normal, but a part of me always knew it was wrong.
“Of course you’re here,” I muttered.
I thought I’d left him behind, moved on and away from him.
Guess my luck had run out. We’d only been together a few months, would he even remember me? It’d be nearly three years now.
I turned to pluck my phone off the bedside table, groaning at the five-thirty time on it.
I pulled myself out of bed, not willing to try to return to sleep for another hour or so. I didn’t want another bad dream, well, memory.
Instead, I changed and fixed up my hair before sitting down on the end of my bed.
I reached for the encyclopedia, but then decided against it as I picked up a history book.
Time to learn some supernatural history.
I spent the next few hours learning that supes dated back to the vikings, probably further, but the history was scattered beyond that. I learned Leonardo Da Vinci had been a witch who specialized in dream-walking, a rare witch ability that allowed him to explore alternate realities, and to delve into the dreams of others. He used this to inspire some of his creations. I tried not to think too much of these alternate realities, the more I did, the more it weirded me out.
Many great people from normal history had a supernatural twist, which I was finding utterly fascinating.
There was the era
of witch-burning, a harsh time for supes, where they tried even harder to blend in. Their magic evolved with them, thankfully, and witch burning was left behind when witches could hide themselves easier. Many innocents, humans as well, died in that time.
The Supernatural Council came into effect in the late 1400s, although before that there had been country based organizations that handled all supernatural affairs in that region. The Supernatural Council was the one ruling Council, the High Council managing the most major of issues concerning supes. This included Hitler, who had been brought back to life as a child thanks to a warlock. This resulted in a sick, twisted man who struggled with the two sides of himself. Those who were brought back had a darkness inside them, a remnant from the afterlife that tainted them.
He was carefully destroyed and covered up, but not after significant damage had been done. The crackdown on warlocks only worsened after that, and all warlocks were put under watch, tracked down by the Council’s very own warlock, who had mastered the magic of prolonged life.
I pursed my lips as my phone vibrated, informing me I’d been accepted into the Facebook groups for supes.
I set my book down, now curious about the groups. What would they contain?
The buy, swap, sell group was just like Oliver had said. Mostly charmed objects, potions, spell books, study books, jobs for supes. I only scrolled through a few listings before checking out another page.
The University one had information on any events coming up, and it offered the link and code to the supernatural web. The code changed every few days, so it was best to make an account.
“Supernatural web,” I frowned. A quick read over their post informed me it was google, for supes. So real sites with real info, all carefully protected and warded so only those on the supernatural web could access it.
Intrigued, I clicked through to the website, where it asked for the code and then an identity check. It would create an account for me once I was verified as supe. Of course.
I entered my details, keen to know what lay in this supernatural web. It could take a few days to verify though, which bummed me out.
My requests for the supe social and events group, were still pending, so I set my phone down.
The time was now six thirty, and I figured I might as well go get breakfast, I needed to be at the Veterinary clinic on campus before eight for my prac day.
Hopefully Ollie was himself again too.
I walked out into the hall, pulling my old grey jacket tight around my shoulders. It was still pretty cool in the morning.
I found Lucas up bright and peachy in an extravagant purple suit in the kitchen.
“Morning,” he turned and grinned at me.
“Morning,” I said as I stifled a yawn.
“Bad sleep?” he asked with a frown.
“That easy to tell?” I scoffed as I headed to the fridge. I opened up the freezer side and pulled out the loaf of multigrain bread I’d bought. Some peanut butter and jam sounded good, and I’d made sure to buy them.
“Was it because of what Ollie told you?” he asked gently as he put the kettle on.
“Yeah,” I sighed. No point in lying, last night had made it clear that there were issues there.
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.
“Nope, you can’t undo the past,” I gave him a forced smile as I popped two frozen pieces of bread in the toaster. I’d noticed my loaf of bread wasn’t the only one in the freezer, seemed I wasn’t the only one with the desire to keep my bread from going moldy and stale. Which didn’t take long in this dodgy weather. One day it was raining, the next it was on fire.
Summer was a weird one for sure, and we were moving into autumn soon.
“Did he hurt you?” Lucas asked, and I could hear the underlying venomous tone in his voice.
“It’s nothing to worry about. It was years ago,” I said, wishing he’d just drop it.
He must’ve got the hint, because he didn’t say another word as he set about making a tea.
“You want one?” he asked.
“Sure,” I murmured as I waited patiently for my toast to pop. I’d gathered up the peanut butter and strawberry jam and set it on the counter with a plate.
“Mornin.”
I smiled as I turned to spy Ollie walking in, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Glad you’re back to normal,” I said as he managed a tired smile.
“Yeah, well, it happened sometime during the night. Guess the spell worked, thank God,” he sighed.
“Tea?” Lucas offered.
“Hot milo?” Oliver asked eagerly, and Lucas just rolled his eyes but nodded.
“Excited for today?” I asked as my toast finally popped and I carefully plucked the pieces out and tossed them onto the plate before I burnt my fingers.
“I guess so, it’ll be interesting,” he shrugged as he sat down at the table.
“Hey, got a question, the supernatural web, what’s on it?” I asked.
“Supernatural google. Want real facts, history, memes, whatnot. Anything supernatural will be on there, and it’s all hidden from humans, only accessible by us,” Lucas said.
“Want to know what actors are supes, you go there, want to learn more about spells, abilities, places, etc, that’s where you go. It’s the main doorway to the supernatural world,” Oliver added.
“Could I learn about my ability on there?” I asked.
“Don’t think so. I tried searching it there too, along with my grandfather’s books, but nothing came up about a pixie with that ability. It’s weird, you’d think there’d be something, somewhere,” he remarked as the kettle boiled and he got to work on the hot drinks.
“Oh, okay,” I murmured dejectedly. I’d been hoping I might find some answers there.
“Hey, did you look for any family on Facebook?” Ollie asked.
“Um, no, not really. I wouldn’t even know where to start. I don’t want anything to do with my aunt and cousin,” and her boyfriend, but I didn’t say that, “but I never really knew any other family apart from them. They weren’t exactly family people, they never saw anyone, barely spoke of any of them. I doubt I’d even know if they were related to me if I came across any family relatives,” I shrugged.
“That sucks,” Ollie pouted, but it turned to a smile as the hot milo floated over to sit before him. Lucas carried mine and his over as he joined us at the dining table.
I bit into my toasted peanut butter and jam sandwich, sighing at the sweetness. Speaking of, I still had Freddos in the fridge too. I’d take one with me today.
“I know some people, I could find out some relatives of yours if you’d like?” Lucas suggested.
“I don’t know, would that be weird? I wouldn’t even know them,” I mumbled through a mouthful of my breakfast as I used my hand to cover my mouth.
“No, not at all. I’m sure they’d understand why you weren’t in contact if your parents passed away and your aunt was a bitch,” Lucas said.
“Maybe a relative would know more about my ability,” I said thoughtfully.
“Possibly,” Lucas shrugged as he sipped his tea.
“Okay, well, if you know someone who can find relatives, then I guess I might as well,” I said before biting into my toasted sandwich again.
The morning was uneventful, and Lucas offered to drive us. Skip didn’t start until later, and I was getting used to only seeing Marcus in the evening hours.
I left my MacBook at home and just took a notebook and pen in my handbag along with my phone.
I finally got to see Lucas’s fancy 4x4 Mercedes, with its luxurious interior and wood paneling on the dash and doors. It was beautiful.
The drive was short, but the day was already heating up at just before eight in the morning. He parked down in the back carpark, and we parted ways with a wave and agreed to meet at the fig tree for lunch.
Ollie hooked his arm through mine with an excited grin, and we were off to our first practical day.
We
assisted the older students and professors, learning as we went and being taught what all the tools were and what we would be assisting in for the first few weeks.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was giddy with excitement. I was really doing this, pursuing a proper career that could give me a real life.
Because living in a room in a house of guys was not a real life. Ha! It sure was an interesting one.
But this was what people did. They studied and got good jobs. That was how it worked.
Skip joined us for lunch, and I annihilated my freddo in minutes despite telling myself to make it last after eating the cheese and ham sandwich I’d prepared this morning. I’d even bought a water bottle when I’d done groceries, one of those metal bottles that stayed really cold.
“So, it’s going well?” Lucas asked as he ate a sandwich for a change, although he had an apple with him too.
Ollie was stuffing his face with a wrap he’d bought at a kiosk, and Skip had a homemade sandwich too.
“Yeah, we love it,” Ollie gave him a thumbs up as he bit into his wrap.
“Good, that’s good,” Lucas nodded.
“How’s yours going?” I asked.
“The business is pretty boring but necessary, the sorcery and magic, that’s the fun one,” he grinned, those earthy green eyes flashing enthusiastically.
“Well, I got to study the cells of plants today, amongst other things, so that’s a bonus,” Skip shrugged. “I won’t see you guys this arvo, I’ve got work.”
“Right, you’re working as a chippy?” I checked.
“Yeah, working with a mate’s dad from primary school. Don’t talk to his son much anymore, but he gives me work some arvos, and I work there for a full day every Thursday, it covers my bills,” he shrugged.
“You like it?” I asked as I sipped my water, the sun burning my legs. I pulled them back into the shade of the fig, glancing around the courtyard vacantly.
“Yeah, I like working with my hands, making things, fixing things,” he said.
“Oh, you so do love working with your hands,” Lucas purred, and I breathed in my mouthful of water which resulted in a choking fit.