Familiar Beginnings

by Alice Winters

  “Can you think of something easier? Like if I took away all of that… what would be left of me, you know? Just a shell. Just a fucking beautiful shell of a man with gorgeous wings.”

  “I’m so glad we had this discussion,” I say sarcastically.

  “I am too.”

  “Can I kill him?” Havoc asks.

  “Wait until we land.”

  “Land? Now?” Marco asks and he instantly starts dropping.

  “No! I was talking to Havoc! Don’t land!”

  “Oh!… I think someone saw us,” he says.

  “Why’d you drop so fast?”

  “I thought you said to land,” he says as he looks down. “What do I do?”

  “Try to reach the building.”

  “Hmm… I’m afraid your long boring plan won’t work now that you’ve wrongly shouted for me to land. And now people are running after us and shouting at more people.”

  I glance down, only able to see little specks of people. “Wonderful. This day has been amazing.”

  “I have that effect on people,” he says, but he doesn’t get that I was being sarcastic.

  “You truly do.”

  So now that our entire plan is backfiring on us and everyone is now alerted that we’re flying in, I realize the only thing left to do is to make Marco fly in faster than the word can get out that we’re here.

  “Do you want me to just off him?” Havoc asks.

  “Not until I’m on the ground. Marco, see if you can get us in next to there,” I say as I point at an area with a lot of vehicles I could use for cover. “As soon as you drop us, I’m throwing an illusion on you to look like me, and you’re going to draw them away.”

  “But what if they try to hurt me?”

  “Fly fast!” I say.

  Marco groans as he drops down low enough to let me go. I grab onto his ankle and throw the illusion on him just as people see him. It’ll probably remove the illusion from One, since she’s so far away, but at this point, I don’t think it matters.

  Poor Marco yelps as an arrow narrowly misses him and he beats his “perfect” little wings as fast as he can to get away from the ruthless attack while looking like me. Well, like me with wings.

  “I’m too pretty to die!” he cries.

  I crouch behind the car and look over at Havoc who shifts into his human form. “Aw, look, Marco looks handsome for the first time in his life,” he says.

  I glance up, but I’m confused until I realize he’s talking about the illusion I put on Marco to make him look like me. “Fuck, you’re sexy,” I grumble.

  “Wanna make out?”

  It does sound tempting. “Maybe if we weren’t currently being pursued by crazy people. Then I’d be climbing your body like a jungle gym.”

  “Oh, you gonna… slide down my pole?”

  “I’m gonna slide up it too,” I say as I drop the illusion on Marcus and put an illusion on him to make him look like one of the men who just ran past. The issue with my illusions is that they’ll fool most, but there’s a possibility it won’t work on everyone and someone might see through it, especially with the way I’m throwing it on this and that, my illusion magic thin. I throw one on myself and then stand up.

  “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Everyone is running about, so we race straight for the door. Before I even reach the door, I hold my hand out to feel what kind of magic barrier they have on it. It’s a spell that keeps the door from unlocking for anyone other than those it’s designed to open for, which means that even looking like this, if I grab onto the door handle, an alert will sound.

  I pull out a Sharpie and quickly draw a magic circle on the handle, careful to not touch it with my skin. Then I draw the same circle on my hand before pressing it down on the correct spot and pushing my magic into it. I need to keep from severing the magic barrier because I don’t want the person who set it to notice. Instead, I need to fool it into thinking that Havoc and I are allowed inside.

  There’s minor hesitation before the door handle turns. I pull it open and usher Havoc inside.

  “Can you feel Geoff here?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “I can’t. It doesn’t mean he’s not here, though. He’s always been hard for me to follow or pinpoint.”

  We follow the path that One and Popsicle gave to me and head deeper into the facility. There was some confusion about the difference between right or left, so I’m really hoping we’re heading the correct way.

  We turn the corner as some people come rushing toward us, but we stay calm and continue on like we have a destination in mind. They ignore us and trot on past as we reach the hallway.

  “I think this is it,” I whisper.

  “I sure hope those dumb things are right,” Havoc grumbles. “I hate being categorized with lesser demons. They shouldn’t be called demons.”

  “We all know you know your left and right,” I assure him. “Besides that one time I was like ‘You’re pinching my left nut!’ and you’re like ‘Huh? What?’”

  He glares at me. “That wasn’t because I didn’t know left or right but because I had no fathomable idea how I was pinching your nuts! I still don’t!”

  “You were trying to kneel on my nuts!”

  “I was not! You’re so dramatic.”

  “Am I? Am I really?”

  “Thankfully, we’ve reached the door,” he says as he stares at the huge metal door. “Do some magic mojo on it and see if it opens. Abracadabra!”

  I glare at him. “I’m going to abracadabra your ass into tomorrow if you don’t straighten up.”

  “Is that a sex position? You made it sound like a sex position and now I’m excited.”

  “Wonderful,” I say as I start picking apart the spell on the door. It takes much longer because it’s very complex in order to hold magical beings inside. Thankfully, no one bothers me and the moment I have it undone, I pull the door open and come face to face with Johnson.

  “Hey, it’s Miles and Havoc,” I say as I rush over to him and kneel down to free him.

  “Oh, thank the gods. Please get me out of here.”

  “Do you know where Lanni is?” I ask.

  “Next room over. She’s been going fucking nuts in there. I could hear her screaming and yelling from over here,” he says.

  “Havoc, can you free him? I’ll go get Lanni,” I say.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  I head back into the hallway and start working on the next door. It doesn’t take me as long now that I know how to break it. I pull the door open and Lanni whirls on me. Surprisingly, she’s not chained up and she looks all right. I was worried something had happened to her after what One said. She has blood on her jeans, but her coat is buttoned up to the top and she looks fine for the most part.

  “Oh, thank fuck, I never thought she’d get someone,” she says. “Come on, let’s fix this.”

  She rushes past me and turns right, the opposite way we came in.

  “Lanni, I think the exit is this way. At least, that’s how we broke in.”

  She hesitates and turns to me. “Miles?”

  “What? Do you know a faster way?”

  “No… I was just moving. Yeah, we can go this way. Are the others with you?”

  “They’re holding them off outside,” I say as we meet back up with Havoc and Johnson and I put an illusion on both Lanni and Johnson.

  “Perfect,” Lanni says and lets me lead the way.

  We’re quiet as we make our way back toward the door. Carefully, I pull the door open and check before turning to them. “Since Marco can’t fly all of us out, we’re going to slip out this way and try to make a wide path before joining up with the others. We’ll contact them and they can either back off or we can assist.”

  Just as I’m turning, my eyes see the last thing I want to see.

  Geoff.

  He’s quite a ways from us, just watching us as we slip through the door. I turn to face him and he does an oddly familiar gesture t
hat looks strangely unfamiliar on him. He cocks his head and stares at me, telling me he’s seen right through my illusion.

  Hold on.

  I turn around to look at the others rushing away, having not noticed Geoff.

  Then I shift my attention back to Geoff and point behind me at Lanni. Geoff runs a finger over his throat.

  Lanni didn’t recognize me when I opened the door… because that’s not Lanni.

  That’s Geoff.

  Right?

  What the fuck? So did they switch bodies? I know Lanni can switch bodies but did Geoff?

  Or am I wrong?

  Geoff, or whoever is in Geoff’s body, is too far away, and if they come any closer, it would disrupt everything. I need to make my decision now.

  I pull out a knife and turn from Geoff, praying I’m right. And if I’m wrong, Lanni might just need to find a new body and will have one more reason to bitch about me. Maybe she’ll forget the naked incident.

  I jog to catch up to the others and as I reach them, I slide my fingers into Lanni’s hair and feel the pulse of magic that Lanni doesn’t possess. Instead, I’m met with the magic I detest.

  I bring the knife to her throat and pull the knife across, much like he did to me, and that’s the moment that the world explodes around me.

  It’s like time freezes as Geoff spins around and grabs for me, but I slide out of his reach as blood gushes from the open wound.

  “Why won’t you just die,” he growls.

  “I could say the same to you,” I hiss as I move in for another hit.

  Magic hits me hard enough that I’m flung back. I slam into the side of the car I’d previously hid behind. I roll off it and push up to my feet, but Lanni’s body is gone.

  “Fuck,” I growl.

  “What the hell was that?” Havoc asks as he runs over to me.

  “That was Geoff in Lanni’s body. And Lanni is in his. He was probably wanting me to take him to the others so he could wipe us all out at once.”

  “Shit. I’ll see if I can find him; make your way back,” he says as he shifts into a raven.

  “Okay, please be careful,” I say as I rush over to Johnson to help him.

  Johnson stares at me, looking exhausted. “My job used to be so normal. What happened to it?” he grumbles as I assist him.

  “I don’t see Lanni or Geoff, but I see that big-ass fucking valient headed toward us. Get out of there,” Havoc says.

  “Got it,” I say.

  “And now we’re being rescued by a horse.”

  I turn to see Etienne’s horse running toward us. That’s the moment the valient rushes onto the scene. It leaps over some of the cars, landing on one and crushing its hood in. I push Johnson forward as I turn around to face the creature and throw up a barrier in the hopes of protecting us.

  It slams into the barrier and screams out in anger as it bats the path that’s been cut off.

  “I’m too old to get on a fucking horse!” Johnson yells as he tries scrambling up the horse’s side. I give his ass a shove and push him onto the horse before pulling myself up behind him.

  The horse doesn’t wait for guidance, he breaks into a run as I slide my arms past Johnson and grab onto the horse’s mane so Johnson has something to support himself on.

  “Havoc, do you see Geoff?”

  “No. I haven’t seen him since he threw us back with his magic.”

  “Come back and fly ahead. See if they can set up a trap for this thing. If not, I’ll take it on myself and have the horse take Johnson to them.”

  “Got it,” he says.

  Thankfully, the horse can run because the valient is beating down everything in its path, ready to strike and destroy without a care in the world. And we’re currently first on the agenda.

  “Why?” Johnson asks.

  “What?” I ask, confused about what he’s crying about. “Did you need a weapon? Here!” I hand him a knife which he takes then stares at.

  “A fucking knife?” Johnson asks.

  “Yeah? It’s a nice knife! Just like stabby stab!” I mime this action in case he doesn’t understand it.

  He turns to look at me as he holds the smallish knife up. “With this?” he cries. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Stab them!”

  “That creature’s fangs are larger than the knife!”

  “Now you’re just being dramatic. I’ll take the knife back.”

  “No!” he cries as he hugs it to himself. Why he can’t just make up his mind, I’ll never know.

  I call Evan who answers with an “’Ello?”

  “Don’t be cute with me,” I growl.

  “Hello? Is that better, our great savior of mankind?”

  “Yes. Thank you. I’m going to rush in, jump off the horse, and create a circle. Our goal is to push it into the circle and harass it enough that going back to where it came from sounds better than dealing with us.”

  “You’re not going to kill it?”

  “One does not simply kill a valient. A valient kills everyone else. I’d rather stop it and hope it decides to just go away.”

  “Got it. I’ve talked to the trees and they are ready to assist us as long as I promise to bring some fertilizer. They’re trying to decide what kind of fertilizer they’d like. Sometimes they’re just so fussy.”

  I’m so very glad I’m not a druid. I would not have the patience to deal with “fussy” plants. “Wonderful. Let’s tell the trees we can worry about that if we all live.”

  “They said that our bodies would also fertilize the earth.”

  “Wonderful. I’m so glad they’re now considering ways to murder us.”

  “Oh, they wouldn’t murder us. They love us.”

  I feel like I have a right to be skeptical. “Do they?”

  “Well… some of us. Iya pissed on one and it now refuses to help us.”

  “Perfect. This day just keeps getting better.”

  Evan must be satisfied because he says, “Great! We’re as ready as we’ll ever be!”

  The valient lunges to the right, trying to catch us off guard, but the horse slips past, narrowly missing the paw slamming into the earth.

  And I hang up before I have to deal with any more of that nonsense. As I go to put the phone in my pocket, I see that Evan’s immediately calling me back.

  “Hello?”

  “The phone went dead.”

  “Yeah… I hung up because I’m trying not to be eaten. Do you need something?”

  “No, no. I was just concerned I upset you.”

  “No! I’m hanging up.” And this time he lets me.

  Wonderful.

  The horse slips right into the trees and the plants almost seem to come to life as Evan holds his hands out. I can feel his magic surge as they create a barrier that the valient slams into. It’s going to hurt some of the trees, that’s apparent, but hopefully, they’ll hold him off long enough I can create a circle.

  I jump off the horse and grab a stick, drawing it in a circle big enough to capture the monster as everyone else helps Evan hold the creature off. When the circle is finally complete, I look up.

  “Let him in!” I say.

  Evan pulls back and the trees draw apart, allowing the creature to rush right into the circle where it slams into the wall that I’ve created to keep it inside.

  “Everyone, attack it now!” I shout.

  They throw spells or weapons at it as I try to force it down and hold the barrier steady at the same time.

  “Just go back to where you came from,” I urge.

  It slams into the barrier, cracking it.

  “Everyone get back behind me,” I order.

  “What are you doing?” Havoc asks.

  “Get them back,” I say, knowing the barrier isn’t going to hold it.

  The creature slams through it and barrels down on Yoko and Iya. Baron, in his wolf form, leaps up and grabs the creature by the neck. It swats him away, sending him flying into a tree.


  Evan pushes his hands down, making the ground shake beneath its feet as vines reach up and wrap around the monster’s paws. It snaps them in mere moments as I throw fire at it.

  It’s fast, faster than a human, and rushes us. When it rams into me, throwing me onto my back, it also drives Johnson down who’d been standing next to me. It reaches for him, lowering its muzzle in an attempt to take his soul. I struggle to get to my feet, but the large mouth is inches from my face as its heavy paw keeps us both pinned down. I can see the cloudy eye from where Havoc had stabbed it the first time, making it blind to what I’m doing.

  I pull the tiny knife from where Johnson had stuffed it into his pocket and drive it up into its throat. It reels back into the magic circle as I look over at Johnson.

  “Bad time to say I told you so?” I ask as I toss the knife back to him and push up to my feet.

  I draw my fire magic up fast before slamming it into the creature that isn’t prepared for it now that blood is running from its neck. It screeches and tries to flee but the new barrier stills it. It thrashes this way and that as I confine the fire just to the circle.

  And that’s when the ground begins to open up, telling me that the valient has decided its time here has come to an end. And with that, it disappears back into the earth to where it came from.

  We’re all a little out of breath after that one. And a little surprised it gave up the fight.

  “Man, I need to get into shape,” I whisper. “Is anyone else dying?”

  I look over at all of them giving me an exasperated look like I’m an idiot.

  “I’m a waitress,” Yoko says. “I’m on my feet all day, but this,” she waves around us, “is not normal.”

  “I’m good,” Baron says, butt-ass naked, toned body slightly glistening with sweat, but in a sexy way. I feel like I’m wearing sweat as a second skin.

  Don’t get me started on the blood that’s coating my chest.

  “There’s someone coming,” Etienne says, bursting our joyous bubble.

  I rush toward the front of the group, ready to do whatever I can to protect them as a lone woman walks toward us.

  This is ten times more suspicious than an army because if she’s alone, that means she believes she can kick all our asses alone.

  The wind whips her hair back as she struts toward us and puts her hands in the air, like she’s trying to show that she has no weapons, but in a world where hands are the most powerful of weapons, I’m not too trusting.