by Deandre Dean
After driving through rush hour to the heart of the city. Ginger was not expecting a muscular Latin dude who had bulky, bulging biceps and a short Chinese chick wearing a cardigan looking preppy. The pair could have not been more polar opposites. If you could imagine Aaron was white as chalk but his daughter if this was her, which from his thoughts she was and has mixed descent.
She has dark features like Aaron so a tiny resemblance but she was about Ginger’s height of 5’7 and possible same built. Thin, athletic in shape like her which meant she worked out but not too muscular. A shadow appeared besides them in the middle of the street as a portal opened up.
Five guys stepped out of the portal dressed in black. The street was busy as people stopped to gawk at the spectacle. Blue shots were fired at Stacey and her friend Guadalupe. Stacey was the chosen one or at least that was what Feltus believed when he put a hit in her. People started screaming and scattering all over the place as Guadalupe dodged a blast.
He turned into a shadow so quickly one would have missed it if had blinked. Guadalupe carried off two guys a few feet away from the crowd. The people were scrambling in all directions, it was total chaos.
Aaron was in the streets in seconds, gun raised and directing the people off the street. It was then that Ginger finally reacted and jumped out the car. She throw her arm out and it collided with one of the men running up behind Stacey. She used her mind to make this one fall asleep and Stacey glanced over her shoulder with a grin.
Ginger saw a punch that Stacey gave one of the guys’ who momentarily stumbled to the ground. Stacey was in no need of help so Ginger turned to see Guadalupe wield an upper cut punch on one guy.
Both were now at his feet as Ginger turned to see Stacey finished with the two she was facing off with. One of the guys that Guadalupe hit was getting back up and shot off a blue ray heading straight towards her and Stacey. The energy of sonic radiation would kill them if it hit one or both of them.
The man was rewarded with a blow to the head delivered by Guadalupe causing him to be knocked out for sure. The blast was almost at them when Stacey stepped infront of Ginger and raised her hand while whisking it in the air.
Ginger watched in astonishment as it never reached them. It was like a mirror reflected it towards the ground were the passed out man had been standing, before Guadalupe piled the men infront of Aaron’s SUV. The ground had a loud crash from impact but no one was hurt and she heard some damage girl. Guadalupe fist bumped both her and Stacey, grins on both their faces.
Aaron was on the phone with his agency to clean this up and Ginger thought she never felt so much excitement in a fight. It must be the working with a group aspect. They all waited for COPS agents to arrive.
The men that attacked them were hired demons. Gangs and factions were forming to try and collect on the bounty. Stacey didn’t seemed shocked or disturbed by this information, like an everyday occurrence. For her it probably was thought Ginger. It seems Feltus was willing to pay top dollar to have her exterminated. So gangs were after Stacey hence why this 18 year old needed constant friend tag alongs to ensure her safety. If she didn’t have a project in her summer Art History class who knows what would have happen if Guadalupe hadn’t tagged along.
Chapter 27:
After dropping Guadalupe off at his apartment in lower East Los Angeles. Being close to K-town Ginger thought back to when she came here with Monica and her mom to see a few shows at the Staples Center or nearby venues. She missed those days.
Stacey squeezed her hand and gave her a warm smile.
Stacey says, “I am here for you.”
Aaron responds, “We are all here for you”.
Ginger answers, “Thanks”.
It was nice being near Stacey she was like Hannah very calming and knew when she needed support. Living with these strangers was going to be an adjustment which also made her laugh. Her parents raised her well but the last couple of months she had been on her own parent.
She wondered, “Is Aaron going to be strict or lenient”.
Pushing those thoughts aside as they finally reached their destination. The six bed room house in the Westchester district has a spectular view and now she was living here. There were two cars parked in the driveway of the two story house as she stepped out of the SUV.
The hybrid belonged to Stacey who smiled proudly at her car. That raised the question why did she need a ride.
Stacey chimed in, “I had to have my brakes checked”.
The mechanic was a friend of Guadalupe’s, he dropped it off earlier and the blue Prius was her sisters’. The front door opens and a woman comes out.
Stacey says, “That is my sister Yvette”.
Yvette Cleopathra Darkholme came out of the house in all her glory via a bikini. The girl looked like she could be a model, her features more closely to Aaron’s then Stacey’s. She had shoulder length midnight dark hair styled in layers and a tone body to die for. She introduced herself as the lawyer in the family who refuses to use her magic to try and blend into society.
That was shocking but the 25 year old could make her own decisions. Ginger liked Yvette instantly sweet and direct with clearly no problems expressing herself. They shook hands before heading in the house for a tour leaving her bags for later.
The outside was nice but the inside was grand. The decorating was out of this world each room had rich colors without imposing on the occupant. Her new room was massive and her closet was built for a person visiting the penthouse of a hotel. Yvette, Stacey and Aaron helped her luge all her stuff inside the house and stacked the walls outside the room so she can get situated. Yvette’s room was next door to hers’ and Stacey’s was a quick turn down the hall. Shouting distance with her new live in family.
Family seemed an odd word to use after all she had been through. Somehow powers or not Ginger got the impression this was her new family. Yvette came around the corner with three presents for Ginger. Each of various size but she was gushing and hadn’t expected anything more than a roof over her head.
Ginger says, “I didn’t expect anything”.
Aaron replies, “Nonsense.”
Yvette claims, “Call it late birthday gifts”.
Which was just two weeks ago but felt like a lifetime ago. She didn’t know which one to open first so she opted for the small one. It was the size of a ring box. Inside were a set of keys to her new house and to each of all the cars if she ever needed to use them. Tears began to flow and the gesture was tiny but it meant they were including her into their family.
Ginger says, “I am so overwhelmed with appreciation”.
Yvette hugged her and she laughed to replace all their worrying emotions that she was picking up on. The next box was the size of a book and inside was a laptop.
Ginger says, “I can’t accept this”.
Aaron replies, “I refuse to take it back”.
She gladly accepted it and the last box is filled with books. It was the size of a printer filled with a dozen authors she hadn’t read yet which she thanked Stacey. She thanked all them again and they all wanted her to feel welcome so each got her a separate gift that fit perfectly.
Ginger says, “At least let me make dinner. I can make lasagna”.
Aaron answers, “Sounds good”.
Ginger asked, “Stacey, you wanna join me”?
Stacey replies, “Yes. Let me grab my purse and we can go grocery shopping”.
Seeing as it was Friday night she planned to make sundaes and hoped Yvette would join them for some odd reason. She was leaning toward bonding with the older sister who seemed safer but her age was closer to Stacey by a year. Yvette had a nurturing vibe like a mom which she missed greatly that bond that had so many benefits.
Stacey blasted a Britney song and Ginger sort of got the impression their musical taste would flow together. While shopping for the ingredients Ginger played twenty questions and liked being around Stacey. She has an inquired personality but it was growing on Ginger.
Once back at her new house dinner was prepared fast.
Aaron says, “Ginger. Can I talk to you”?
Ginger nods and answers, “Sure”.
She is stunned by Aaron wanting to talk to her in his study. She hadn’t seen it in the tour and it seemed ominous as she entered with his serious expression. He was not showing any emotions as she entered the office. The dark brown blended nicely with the cream colors gave it a nice very earth tone vibe as she sat in the beautiful crafted chair. He sat behind his desk and each glancing at the other waiting for the other to speak.
Ginger imagines if he was in the CIA then he could resist speaking but she was no stranger to interrogation procedures. He smiled as Ginger smiled back.
Aaron began, “You are impressive with limited training experiences”.
She didn’t know if that was a compliment or if she should be appealed. That was neither here nor there as he continued.
Aaron says, “You will be training with Stacey every day”.
That was fine with Ginger and she accepted this without compliant. He didn’t go on so she stood and left his study to check on dinner. The conversation wasn’t as bad like she imagined and booted up her new laptop to explore classes with Stacey. College hadn’t been a thought while in hiding with Diego but her GPA was still high and she could take a test for her GED. This summer was no longer going to be fun in the sun liked she planned.
Summer session had already begun and Stacey helped her get everything schedule for her high school exit exam that was Tuesday now. This weekend was all about fun and Monday was cram session so she could start school at USC. Stacey put a hold on training and that was good because Ginger needed to focus.
That is always were she planned to go so she had no reason to give up on her dreams now. She smiled to herself while pulling the lasagna out of the oven. Yvette had mad a fruit salad and tuna salad. Dinner at a table was something that reminded her of her parents. The packing had blown by her day as Yvette suggest a girl’s night of movies, ice cream and doing each other’s nails.
It was so boring but Ginger enjoyed it from start to finish. They stayed up late into the night and finally crashed at four in the morning. Aaron laughed to himself; leaving breakfast in the oven on his way to the office.
Chapter 28:
Sitting up in her bed was a cup of tea handed to her by Yvette. She yawned and smiled at her encouragement as they chatted while Ginger took this time to bond more with her. Ginger wanted to find out her opinions about Ginger majoring in English. She loved to write so it made sense to want to read student’s written word and get paid.
Yvette’s encouragement was greatly needed because Ginger felt a little foolish with her career choice as they walked downstairs. Before they had a chance to grab breakfast Stacey made an appearance and joined them on the kitchen. The kitchen was huge, it was the size of a tennis court and cooking was a fun activity that Ginger missed when living in the palace.
Last night felt good to cook which Stacey informed her that everyone pitched in to cook, clean and other house hold chores. No need to go to a nail shop after last night but Yvette wanted to hit a spa which Ginger and Stacey declined.
Stacey says, “I want to grab a new skirt to surprise Peter tonight”.
Ginger answers, “He’s going to love you in anything if he is a good boyfriend”.
Stacey laughs and replies, “Spoken like a true lady”.
Ginger smiles and asks, “Where you going”?
Stacey informs her, “All the best shops are in Hollywood. You want to tag along”?
Ginger accepted if they could stop off at Amoeba and Stacey was so down. The day flew by and tonight she was meeting a bunch of strangers. Luckily Hannah and Frost were showing up but Lucy had a late meeting so promised to make an appearance.
On her way to her room Ginger saw Yvette sitting on her bed and ventured closer. Yvette held a picture of a lovely Asian woman and felt bad for interrupting. Tears were smeared down her eyes.
Yvette says, “Come in”.
She motioned for Ginger to join her on the bed.
Yvette continues, “Her name was Shalice Makyla Kincaid, my mom. She was an outstanding witch like Stacey before she passed away”.
She didn’t go into further details so Ginger did not ask.
Ginger just sat there giving her silent support.
Yvette says, “COPS is now run by my father but before that she was the leader of Legacy”.
Ginger asks, “Legacy”?
Yvette replies, “Right. I keep forgetting you don’t know all this history stuff. I grew up with it so it is second nature. Legacy is a corporation that is stationed in another world. Lane Mir of Forkson where Shalice had met Aaron. Legacy is the name of the company but it monitors COPS, a small division that Aaron leads”.
The pair had worked together for years and Shalice was exquisite. Frost texted her to let her know he was on his way and Yvette shooed her away to go get ready. She was staying home and had a pile of paperwork that she needed to catch up on if she wanted to be District Attorney. That was impressive and very ambitious of Yvette which Ginger was sure she could handle.
While waiting for Frost Stacey had informed Ginger of a lot.
Stacey says, “USC houses a secret society of people like us”.
Frost pulled up to the house just then when the conversation was getting good.
Ginger tells Yvette, “We are going now”.
The girls walked outside and Stacey was locking the front door.
Stacey says, “It was called Dark Force University of Matter for psychics inside the main school which was pretty exciting”.
Frost was driving as they hopped in his Toyota. Ginger was interested in this school even more since she would never feel alone if she got to meet these people with various backgrounds. The drive to Venice was only twenty minutes which was amazing for a Saturday night and traffic was working in their favor.
The party was already in full swing as they approached the beach. First Ginger saw Guadalupe with a guy that Stacey was beaming at so she was sure that was Peter. Peter was handsome for sure, a handsome fella who could model for Calvin Klein or Abercrombie.
Peter was 6’0 which was a few inches shorter than Guadalupe who was probably 6’3. He also had sandy brown hair and clearly white. She chuckled to herself as Stacey grinned at her and Ginger ventured closer dragging a reluctant Frost closer.
Stacey says, “Ginger officially met my boyfriend Peter Quentin Harman”.
Lupio answers, “I am Guadalupe Benjamin Reyes”.
Hannah appeared from thin air which still shocked Ginger who should be used to it by now. Ginger smiled to herself since few things seem to have changed between Frost and Hannah which was very reassuring. Stacey and Ginger got a beer when Lucy came over to say high.
Lucy says, “Hey girls, ready to have fun? I can’t stay long but I wanted to come by”.
Ginger answers, “Yes of course. I’ve missed you. Have you met Stacey”?
Stacey replies, “Stacey. You must be Lucy; heard nothing but good things about you from this one”.
They laugh and Ginger was glad she came but the happy Lucy vanished when she saw someone she must have known. Ginger looked over her right shoulder not sure who Lucy was looking at.
Stacey said, “That is Crystal Daphine Tanner talking to Demetrius Mulwray”.
From the looks that Lucy was giving the pair Ginger knew there was a story behind all this.
Lucy says, “What is Demetrius doing talking to her”?
Stacey answers, “Idk but I heard Demetrius is Victor’s creator. Is that true”?
Lucy replies, “It is. He made him a vamp
ire”.
Her mind was difficult for Ginger to read.
Stacey informed her, “Crystal is a fairy”.
Ginger asks, “What does that have to do with my powers and reading her mind”?
Lucy answers, “Fairies are powerful like vampires but are strongly human with high senses of empathy or emotional based. You guys be careful around her she was like a siren or succubus”.
That caught Ginger full attention, dangerous must avoid. Lucy pulled them away from the tap and back toward the party were towels laid out. She was happy so chose yoga pants and not a short shorties or a skirt like Stacey who didn’t seem to mind. Crystal was a prosecutor so Yvette probably knew her and Stacey would look into it tomorrow.
Since she was talking to Demetrius that had to mean something important. Tonight was not about investigation Peter reminded her but she kissed him and reminded him that this was who she was. Naturally inquisitive just like her and Ginger couldn’t lie she was fascinated and wanted answers as well.