At Dawn

I tripped. I can't believe I tripped and fell on my face in front of my best friend and long-time crush Nicholas or Nicky as I like to call him whenever he gets on my nerves.

"Nicky!" "Hahaha!!..Pfft!" "Stop laughing Nicky and help me up, you know I can't function without my tea in the morning and that damned Raven had to get in my way first thing in the morning." I finished groaning when Nicholas leaned down and took my hand to help me up.

We had travelled all day yesterday from California to Rhode Island to visit my ancestral home to clean it up. Finally, we fell on our beds at three in the morning along with a lot of jet lag that I still feel right now even after soundly sleeping for four hours.

I turned around and looked at the annoying little black book on the floor behind me. If you looked at it from an angle, you could see a shimmer from the special ink used to magically connect the user to the Raven. Inscribed was a special pattern on the front of the book. For that reason, most of us call the magical book Raven because it follows us around once it finds new shiny "friends" within a mile of us. And by "friends", I meant other supernatural creatures that might get the rest of us in trouble if they're not able to handle the secret for long. The patterned inscription is supposed to let us know how close we are to the target.

Once we turn ten years old, a parent usually helps us control our secret or whatever magical inclination we are related to. Depending on the country, most of us magically inclined creatures turn out to be whatever our parents are or a weird combination of both. For me, my parents died in the line of duty leaving me with a fortune of twenty grand. Which is a lot for someone who graduated with an art major who lives alone. I can probably stretch it for some time if I do things right. Like the reason why I came back to this awful place.

I had planned to rent out this home which is why I forced Nicholas into coming with me to clean up the house. I certainly did not expect to be bugged by Raven business just a day after my arrival. I looked at the book with my lips pinched and a scrunched up look. The last time I was here there were barely any Specials around and now as soon as I get here I get alarms going off. Just great. I looked at Nicholas and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He looked at me with an eyebrow raised and said, "Yeah I can't believe that you're twenty-five and still tripping over your feet. Still growing Mila?" He finished with that completely insufferable smirk. "No Nicky, I meant that since the last time we lived here there certainly weren't so many Specials roaming around. Especially in little old Rhode Island."

"That is exactly why you are seeing so many of us here dear chameleon. Rhode Island is the perfect place to blend in and disappear." Nicholas said with a bored expression.

"I know Nicholas, but it feels weird to run away from Rhode Island, a place with no opportunities to California and then we come back to see this surprising change. I know the reason why you wanted to flee with me was that there was no economic growth, but I also left because our families were the only Specials in the whole state. University out of state was our only way out."

Nicholas turned around and his brown cowboy jacket brushed my shoulders as he went to get my tea. Gosh, he had a great ass in those jeans. I stopped myself from continuing those really wonderful thoughts to bend down and picked up my Raven. I feel like I have survived for so long. Not with regards to my family life, but with my life as both a supposed regular human and as a Special. Usually, Specials from different continents don't bond with other species, but there are cases where different Specials with a similar genetic code bond and create a completely new species. It's not exactly looked down upon but it is unusual. With this new species, it becomes difficult to figure out how that individual will develop. How I, will finish developing.

Nicholas turned around and came close to me smelling like the best thing in the world along with my favorite ginger apple tea. He brushed his brown hair back and looked at me with those serious green eyes. "I know what you're thinking Mila. Stop it. You can't obsess over the past just because we're back here." I smiled back at him as I took a sip. "Nicky you can't use that face with me, you know it hasn't worked since that time in fifth grade when you blew up your science experiment in my kitchen and tried to glare my laughter into oblivion."

He suddenly leaned down at me and I almost choked on my tea. "Does it work on you now?" He said with an amused sparkle in his eyes. If I didn't know any better I would think he was flirting with me. I leaned in even closer and said to his face, "Nope." I turned around and went back to my room to change and almost had a heart attack from how long I was holding my breath and how fast my heart was beating. As I turned to look back at Nicholas before closing my door, I saw he had a weird unfocused face before it smoothed out into a simple smile and he turned away to make breakfast. I turned and laid my head against the door murmuring to myself, "I can't, I really can't, and you know why." I suddenly received another vibration from the Raven.

Why the heck does this thing keep annoying me? I opened the book with a frown and saw where the Special that was having issues was at and any other information the book could give me about what type it was and how big the magical discharge was. It was a mandrigora living in Providence. Shoot, I hate those types, mandrigoras always talk in riddles. I wondered what the problem was and saw the radius of the magical discharge. I stopped cold. "Oh Crap! Nicky! The discharge this time is huge so forget breakfast." I heard him curse and shut off the stove. "I'll go ahead first Mila!" I heard hurried steps and the door closing. I was jumping around trying to put my shoe on before hurrying out.

I was a weird mixture of mandrigora and a honculus. Honculi could turn into anything in their surroundings but the skill changed and developed as a Special grew. The fact that I was part of the Special forces made my weird genetics into a rather useful outcome. The thing that worried me was that I hadn't seen another mandrigora in the states since my mom. They tend to stay near our ancestral place of origin.

The fact that there was one anywhere near me and in another continent spelt trouble. I can feel it. This day is going to be a drag, I thought as I stepped out of my motorcycle near the Special and felt the waves of magic being let off. Just my luck I thought before I saw Nicholas fly out through the front door of the home and land on a pile of snow. He was lucky I decided to come back during this season or he would be hitting concrete, I quickly thought before the magical wave exploded and blinded me. My last thought before fainting was, "I am not looking forward to my own awakening."