When I got home, Joshua was waiting for me in the doorway. His white suit was notw stained with blood, most it not being his. I ran over to him and threw my arms around him in a tight hug. “I’m okay,” he whispered softly as he lifted me up. “And don’t worry, Aailyah is gonna be okay, I nearly ran into a semi truck, but I got her to the hospital nearby. I than went back and got her mom out of there as well, so things should be okay.”
“Was it bad?” I asked once he set me down, wincing a bit as pain ran though my ankle once more.
“That girl is protected by God, I can tell you that much. Cause from we saw when we got there, how that bullet completely missed her heart makes no sense.” Joshua seemed to notice my pain and he lifted me up once more and carried me to my bed. “I can run a bath for you if you want.”
“Please do.”
That was how I found myself soaking in a burning hot bath, my muscles and joints seemed to be screaming from relief as I sunk deep into the waters below. I was really glad that I found a place that sold my favorite bath soap. It was a bit unsettling to see a bit of the water turn red in some places as my wounds stung from this bath just a tiny bit. My ankle was probably a bit sprained but not broken, but I would have to heal the slow way. Using amplification to heal wounds was both good and dangerous, it drained your jepei and it would take a day to regain the aura you lost. However, in this city that had so little jepei aura that would probabaly take a few more days to regain that jepei and I couldn't afford that.
I might have made the biggest mistake I have made since arriving. I fought side by side with Katherine, I wanted to show her that I had gotten stronger but in the process. If she didn’t know I was here before, she probably knew I was here now.
Yet she said that she remembered me, this false identity that she supposedly trained years ago. Maybe she really did have some little girl she train in secret as a favor to her parents. Why would she lie in front of everyone like that if that wasn’t the truth? I couldn’t understand it, it just didn’t make sense.
Katherine never made sense to me in the first place.
I let out a loud groan sending a wave of bubbles floating back to the top of the bath. My eyes barely poking above the surface as I grumbled to myself. There was no way she hadn’t put two and two together, she probably saw Aisu in that nightclub the day I sent her. She has been so close to me that there was no way she couldn’t recognize me, at least by scent or how my aura felt. However, it also felt like she didn’t know me, if she did, why wouldn’t she knock me out and just take me away? Katherine is a liar that never actually told a lie before, she just kept many secrets of who she really was. As far as my daddy told me, Katherine never once showed her true colors until the war for the port.
“If she knows who I am why isn’t she acting on it?”
My mind was so stressed thinking about this that I couldn’t even enjoy my bath anymore. The soothing scents of my favorite bathsoap no longer were working and I couldn’t take my mind off of Katherine. Watching her effortless kill and take people down was sending fear in my mind, it was a harsh reminder that no matter how good I was.
She was still an adult, one that I stood no chance in hell against.
I let out a loud scream into my towel as my frustation finally bubbled over. “You came all the way over here to kill Katherine, yet you are still scared of her, and she could probably rip you apart with ease.” I scolded myself. “So stupid!” I slid down against the bathtub, shiving as my body came in contact with the cold white tiled floor. “Why did I even come here when we already knew the truth?” I hung my head in shame. “I can’t beat her let along kill her.” I felt tear starting to build in my eyes as I laid down on my side and curled into a small ball. “I did all of this for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” I opened my eyes and found Thanani standing in front of me. I let out a small yelp of surprise before grabbing a towel to cover my naked body. The older jaguar spirit rolled his head a bit. “I have seen you nude before, stowaway.”
“Can you please leave and just let me mop?” I asked feeling my cheeks burn up. “Also it is different now, I am older.”
Thanani once again rolled his head before sitting down but turned his back to me. “You aren’t here for nothing,” he repeated firmly.
“It sure feels like it.” I said wiping my eyes of tears. “I saw her fight, Thanani, she is on a whole another level than me. I can’t kill her, I can’t even fight her. I am barely able to stand near her. You’re right, I am just a foolish stowaway, a disobedient little girl far from home.”
“Yes those two things are true,” Thanani’s tail came to rest on my chin as he lifted it high. “Yet you are also the little girl who has helped this investigation more than some of us are willing to admit. Tonight got us more information cause of your mission, you have done more good for us than you even know.” Thanani turned to face me and his lips lifted into a sort of smile. “You should be proud, Verona, and if you can’t beat Katherine, than do what you have been doing since you arrived her. Befriend a little girl that that woman is trying to destroy. So keep helping her, finding information to better our chances against Hezekiah and Katherine later on.”
Thanani moved back a bit and began to nuzzle my cheek. A feeling that I hadn’t felt in a very long time, “thank you.” I said giving him a hug. “You are the best cat dad, that someone can ask for.”
“I am your only cat dad.”
“That is what makes you the best.”
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Once my bath was over and i was sitting on my bed waiting for my daddy to arrive. I finally built up the courage to call one person that I was avoiding since she scolded me for nearly an hour when I first arrived. I needed advice on what to do next and the only person I knew that knew Katherine more than my daddy, was the woman that replaced her as my mother in my heart. The woman that was once her greatest rival, and the woman that protected me after one of Katherine’s punishments went way too far.
My phone rang twice before I found myself looking at the fmailiar face of Ravana Whisperwind. My one and only momma. “Hi, Momma.” I greeted nervously. I could tell that she was in the kitchen, probably washing dishes from dinner.
She took one look at me, and her lips lifted into a smile that quickly turned into laughter. “What on earth happened to oyu while in that city?” I groaned a bit as her bright and addictive laughter seemed to echo across the walls. “Lord almighty when, Mrs. O’Brian told me Jonan put you in a disguise I was not expecting that.”
“It is not that bad!” I defended. “Besides this disguise seemed to have worked on Katherine…” At that her laughter immdiately stopped and she looked at me with a killer look starting to appear in her eyes. “Yeah, I have meet Katherine here, and I really need some advice rigt now.”
My momma didn’t say anything for a moment, except she held up two fingers and dissappeared off screen for a moment. She returned a few seconds later with a very tall glass of her favorite rum, and a chair before sitting down. “Tell me everything that has happened since you left, every last detail.”
And I did just that it took about 30 minutes for me to tell her everything she wanted to know. How I was undercover as Trinity’s friend, how I have been able to understand her more than anyone because of our shared relationship with Katherine. How I had met Katherine and she didn’t know me, how Katherine has been looking, my mission in getting into Mr. Wallace’s emails. The events that happened tonight. “Momma,” I said once i had finally finished everything. “I know that I am in a lot of trouble when I come home, I know that you are probably very mad at me and Leela is probably plotting the route she is gonna make me run with her once you are done with me, but I am sorry. I really am sorry for what I did, I am already said it to Beatrice and Aunt O’Brian the other day.” I hugged my knees close to my chest. “I made a mistake coming here, I am not ready to fight Katherine. I have no chance against her. However, I do know I need to help Trinity escape her. She is not a bad person, she just really needs someone to help her. Even if it means taking her daddy down, I can leave Katherine for daddy and Joshua to handle. I just don’t know what to do, I really don’t. So I am hoping that you might know a few things about Katherine that could help me. Cause if she really knows it’s me, than maybe I should just come home. I would rather face your wrath and risk facing her again.”
It was honestly a relief being honeast and admitting this for the first time since coming her. A feeling that I think my momma understood as her lips curled at my last statement. “You should fear what I have planned for you more than you fear Katherine, my foolish daughter.” That at least made me feel less scared of Katherine and more worried about getting home. “However, what I can tell you is that Katherine did train someone else your age in secret.”
“Wait really?!”
My momma nodded her head. “I doubt Katherine even remembers her name or what she looks like so your cover might still be in tact. However, Katherine also is really good at waiting for her moment to ponch and once she does, it is almost impossible to get out of her claws. She picks her moments perfectly, it is the reason why I had to be on guard every chance, she was after my title of grandmaster and she only wanted to take it from me. Epsically after I refused to let you go home with her five years ago. If Katherine does know it is you, than she will not try anything in public or in front of other people. So you should be safe, epsically since she is busy here, for all we know she doesn’t care about you anymore or for that same reasom. She might not rememer you.”
“Momma, is it wrong that I get upset at the thought of her forgetting me?” Ravana’s eyes softened a bit more, those tiny flickers of gold that were in her bright black eyes, seemed to shine like stars in the sky. “I know that she did awful things to me and my daddy, things that I will never forgive her for. Not until she is dead, but why do I feel horrible just thinking how she probably, maybe doesn't even know I am here?”
“Because she is your mother, that is why.”
“She is not.”
“You do not feel like she is your mother,” she interrupted me. “I know, but listen to me, baby girl.” I closed my mouth and slowly nodded my head. “I know that what Katherine did to you was wrong on so many levels, and I know that it hurt you so much that you no longer see her as your mother. I know cause we both have a similar story…” My momma paused for a moment and swrirled her drink around. “I never told you this story, but I also have a hatred for my own mother, or at least I had one at point in my life.”
“Really?”
She nodded her head. “When I was about seven years old, way back when I lived in Saudi Arabia. My mother was very poor, and to make ends meet she would sell herself to the highest bidder and sleep with them. However, some men had had their eyes set on a light skinned little girl with dark black hair with speaks of gold. A little girl that had very high pain toloteance and had the staminia of a wild animal. My mother was addicted to certian products and in her weakness, she had me learn how to please men. First how to dance, how to strip, and than how to pleasure them.” My momma took a long sip of her drink. “That was how I meet my adoptive mother, your grandma Shavia Khalid.”
“Wait, your adopted?”
“I am.” She answered. “So to make a long story short, your grandma found me and bought me from my mother, saved me from a horrible life. So I owe her a lot. Anyway, for a long time after i was healed from my pain, I voved to never call that woman, my mother again. I was hurt, I was tired, I didn’t understand why my mom did that to me. I hatred her, I wanted her to suffer worse than I did, however as I grew on the island. So did my faith in a new god. I converted from Islam to Christian and instead of holding onto so much hatred. I learned to forgive, so after 20 long years before I was pregnant with Sevil. I took a trip from the island and went home, and I found my mother, my birth mother. It took a long time, and she didn’t reconize me at first, but she eventually did and she cried, begging me for forgiveness. I could have let her cry their on her knees, I had the power to hurt her in many ways now. I was a grandmaster at this point and I could have killed her if I wanted to. Yet I hugged her, and I forgive her for hurting me for so long.”
My momma held her head up high and the bright cross thath hung from around her neck seemed to shine brighter. “I am telling you this, cause I know how you feel. I know how you feel little one. To want revenge, to want to hurt her, to be scared of her, to want to know why she did the things she did, and to know if after so long did she remember you. To miss her even after all of the pain. Your wounds are so fresh, and one day they will heal.”
“How can they heal faster?”
My momma smiled at me. “They only heal when you are ready to try and close them. However, you would be surprised by how wounds don’t heal, if you kill off the source of that pain.”
“What do I do now?”
“Well to me, you have already decided what to do, and while I would love it if you decided to come home. I know that you are gonna do what is right now, your path has changed and I proud that you understand that now.” My momma traced the screen with a finger. “Do what you can, and find what you can, bring that girl home when this is all over. Can if anyone can help shake her out of Katherine’s claws and help her into a new light, it is a very naughty teenager who I am gonna wear out the second she steps into my arms for the hug I am dying to give her.”
“I would rather, Katherine aduct me than let that happen,” I said making my momma laugh. “I am gonna come home, and tell Sevil I am okay, and that I promise to spend the whole day with her when I get back.”
“I will hold you to that.” My momma seemed to look past me and I turned around to see my daddy looking through the door. “I will let you go, I am sure your father would love to chat with you about everything that happened. I love you Verona ad I always will.”
“I love you too, Momma.”
As we hung up the phone for the first time in a long time I had a sense of what I needed todo. I had an idea of what I had to do to save someone. I had to sway Trinity to our side, get her to tell me something cause as long as Katherine and Mr. Wallace were working together. SHe was gonna be in danger.
If only I knew that those claws might be so far in Trinity. That nothing would ever get them out.
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A young woman stood in front of the very much closed Order and Chaos Nightclub that still had a sea of ambulances and police cars waiting out front. Bodies lay down in a line with a large white cloth over them to at least provide a bit of privacy. People were being put into large police trucks. “Thank you Samantha, I am standing out in front of the famed Order and Chaos Nightclub. As you just informed the audience back home, tonight was supposed to be the seventh anniversary of the clubs opening. However, things took a sour turn, when armed men and women invaded the club not with plans of robbing, but seemed to want to kill anyone they came across. Nearly 25 have been confirmed dead inside of the nightclub and another 46 have been injure yet that number is still going up. Hezekiah Wallace was confirmed to be upstairs having ordered his security detail to engage and keep these men from getting upstairs, but even when a few mamanged to do so. Well the black lion as they called him lived up to his name. Eyewitness have told me that he protected them tooth and nail, saying bullets bounced off him like he was wearing a bulletproof vest. He fought to keep them out of harms way while his servers got people onto a service elevator to the basement. His new girlfriend, Katherine bloodthorn also took the fight downstairs. However, the most insane part of this is that two young girls were down stairs fighting as well. One that we have been told is named Cindy Perez and Hezekiah’s own daughter, Trinity Wallace were using their skills to keep invaders back. While that was going on inside, a war was happening outside, with more of these gangsters keeping the police busy so no one could get inside to help the panicked people.”
The camera moved over to see a tall man with long brown hair, his suit jacket was resting over his shoulders and his white undershirt had a bit of blood on it. “Master Whisperwind, can you give us any comments about what was happening and who might have been responsible?”
The man looked up with a pair of piercing purple eyes, yet he spoke in a soft gentle voice. “Well from what I can understand happened, Hezekiah had many enemies from his past life as a gangster as you call it. We have members of three known gangs that resides in Harlem, The Bronx and Queens that came together for this attack. From what I could gather from the few soldigers that shared my gift, there were here to kill Hezekiah Wallace.”
“Any comments on the children that were inside fighting alongside adults?”
“Well children that have the gift of jepei are trained in combat to help them learn to control the power inside of them. They should not be viewed with fear, but should be praised for their actions tonight. They bravery fought to protect others from harm.”
“Last question, Master Whisperwind. Rumors have been flying that perhaps, Mr. Wallace is involved with some kind of drug trades still to this day, could this have been perhaps an enemy raid rather than a senseless attack on Hezekiah Wallace?”
The man thought on it for a few moments. “Whether Mr. Wallace is involved in criminal activities is not my place to say, but if he is and this assault was a result of those activities than I am sure he will be held to fullest punishments that this fine county is able to give.” The man stood before standing and jogging over to some more police officers and seemed to be discussing things with them. The camera switched back to the studio as another woman was standing behind large curved desk, this one having dark red hair and pale white skin.
“We tried to get a statement from Hezekiah Wallace at the hospital but the man cracked our camera with a single hand. Saying that his daughter is more important than any interview right now, but that he will have a statement by the end of the week.”
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I sat on the couch watching the new broadcast of these events with my daddy. “Are you sure it was smart for you to do an interview?” I asked, looking up at him.
“I was not planning on doing an interview, they caught me off guard.” He defended with a sigh. “I was more focused on taking a moment to myself, that it never even occurred to me that that was gonna happen. This is both a good and a bad thing for this operation.”
“How so?”
“Well it helpful cause, now Katherine knows I am in the city. Which might cause her to do one of two things once we get the proper permits in place to fully raid and shut down this club for months on end. Either she is gonna try to pay or even threaten officials to keep that club open, or she is gonna move her operation here to another one of Hezekiah’s smallest lines of business. Such as Club Serenity if she is desperate enough or his two restaurants. This might also have her slightly worried that other masters or even a grandmaster might be in the city to find her. The other issue is that she now knows I am in the city, and if i am here. She might put things together a bit more quickly, and that little lie that has kept you safe might put you in danger.” He explained as he took another log drag of his cigar and breath the smoke out towards a fan that sent it out of the window. He only smoked when he was he was slightly stressed. “If we are gonna keep doing this, than you need to stay away from Katherine for a little while.”
“I will try, but I don’t think tonight is gonna help her not be interested in me.” I winced as I moved my ankle wrong sending a tiny bit of pain running though it. “Something has been bothering me though about this whole attack?”
“What wrong?”
“That girl in the black mask, she was fighting against Trinity and I. Yet before she attacked me for looking though Mr. Wallace’s office. Did she switch sides cause if not why would she do that? She and Trimity fought in a way that showed hatred for each other, granted Aailyah.” I stopped for a moment and looked down. “Aaliyah was shot and that probably didn’t help matters but still it doesn’t make sense.”
“It seems that only Trinity might have the answers for those questions.” My daddy answered before getting a bit serious. “And you are certain you saw her kill a man?”
“She didn’t hesitate to kill the man that shot Aaliyah and I am sure she killed the man with him as well. They were aiming for her, and might have taken her only true friend away.” My mind stung with memories of how Aaliyah had pushed Trinity out of the way, taking the bullet for her. How small and scared she looked at as she placed a hand over her wound. That was all rreplaced with the pure rage that spilled off Trinity like a fire out of control. I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life. I leaned my head against my daddy’s chest just to chase those memories away. “You never told me that these missions could be so complicated.”
“Most missions aren’t black or white, there are usually very much gray, cause what we see as bad others see as good and what others see as good we see as bad. For example, if I told you that a man was gonna go steal from a store and you could stop him, you would do it in a heart beat, but if that man than told you he is stealing to feed his family cause no one will hire him, suddenly you wouldn’t want to arrest him.”
“It’s still annoying, in a way.” I said, as I watched him turn the channel to a baseball game. “What is your plan now?”
“For now, we wait and see what is on the clips you have gotten us and analyze the material in hte bag you got us. They are gonna do Joshua’s footage and evidence first and than yours, afterwards we are gonna be ready to strike, and when we do. Hopefully it is enough to draw her out, and we end this.”
“We?”
My daddy ran a hand through my large braids, a few having come undone from all of the fighting. A few others were missing as I think they got cut off in my fight with that girl. “When the day comes where we face off against Katherine, I think it is only fair that you join us, and play support. Joshua and I could possibly beat her, but I think it is only fair that you help bring her in.”
“I can try.”
“I know you will,” he said, giving me a tight hug.
At that moment my phone began to go off as I got a text message. When I looked at it I was surprised that it was not from Trinity or even maybe Aayliah, it was an unknown number. “It’s Tatiana, meet me here tomorrow afternoon.” The last part of her text made me sit up in surprise. “I need your help before Trinity does something stupid, I am not ready lose to my cousin yet, and I might known something about her daddy’s girlfriend that you want to hear.”
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When I stepped out of Joshua’s car. I found myself staring up at the double humps of Mcdonalds. I had never actually tried the restaurant before, we had one inside of the island's mall but in comparison to what I could have for lunch at the academy, or the food that my momma made. It just seemed pointless to go and try it. I stepped inside of the building, keeping to myself as I moved through the busy afternoon crowd. I had already sent my order to Tatiana before I arrived just so it would be ready when I arrived. The girl in question was sitting by herself at a table with a window in front of it. She had on a pair of headphone and she seemed to have removed her long braids for today, I never knew that they were fake until now. She had two poofballs of brownhair on her head and now that I could see her clearly, I was surprised to see not only the speaks of dark red in her otherwise dark brown hair, but I could see the faintest trace of jepei that was running off her shoulders.
She was a jepei user like me.
Tatiana looked up at me and took her headphones off and had them rest around her neck. From what I could make out was some kind of classical music. “Right on time,” she muttered as she turned her gaze up at me, even her dark eyes had hints of red in them. “Thank you for coming.”
“Your a jepei user?” I asked, slipping into the seat across from her. She had chosen a booth in the far back, probably so we could talk without anyone over hearing.
The darker skinned girl looked down at the small amount of dark red smoke that was running off her arms. It was so faint like dying embers of a fire. “I guess I am, this is a recent discovery maybe a month or two. Some woman in the city, told my mom that I was late bloomer as it was called. Took some time before it began to manifest.” Tatiana let out a sigh before resting her chin on her palm and looked me over. “How are you doing after all of that nonsense?”
“I am okay, I hurt my ankle a bit but I am okay… I’m doing better than Trinity or Aaliyah are right now.” I had texted Trinity that morning and she told me she is still in the hospital, she said that Aaliyah seems to be okay but she hasn’t woken up since they put her to sleep to do surgery. Just thinking about sweet Aaliyah being in pain nearly brought tears to my eyes. “They are doing okay, just waiting on Aaliyah to wake up.” I changed the subject, to ask the one burning question on my mind. “Your Trinity’s cousin?”
The girl nodded her head. “Yeah I am her cousin on her daddy’s side. The famed Hezekiah Wallace is my Uncle.”
“Wow…” I whispered. “I never would have guess, especially since you don’t seem to like Trinity that much.”
“My cousin is annoying little spoiled brat, ever since we meet she thinks she is better than everyone. The queen of that stupid rotten pride…” Tatiana took a sip of her soda. “She never used to be this way you know, used to be spoiled but kind. She would throw away the money my uncle gave her to the poor. She was liked at our school for a long time, I knew Aaliyah back than too, but the more my uncle spoiled her, the more she began to think. I am better than everyone, even her own cousin.”
“Does anyone else know you are cousins?”
“Only a few in our friend group like Caleb and Anya know, of course Aaliyah knows but I want to keep it close net. Episcally cause my cousin tried to disown me after we fought once and I slapped the fucking taste out of her mouth. However, our uncle is very much on the idea of family shouldn't fight, so he whooped us both for fighting and made us apologize to each other. Ever Since we put on a show of being loving cousins but we don’t like each other. And now that I have this gift, she really doesn’t like me. Says I am copying her, tried to tell me I had to change this jepei color of mine cause it matched her. I don’t even know what this shit is to even change the stupid color.”
“It’s jepei, or rather your body is drawing in the nature energy that is on the earth. Your blood is compatible with it and you can use it to do amazing things.” I said, giving her a soft smile, I had spent hours practicing this explanation so I could explain it to new jepei users. “Did you unlock your animal spirit yet?”
Tatiana nodded her head and patted the table in front of her. A moment later I saw a small dog like spirit jump onto the table, red with darker red spots on it’s flank. “I was told she is an african wild dog. I named her Diana.”
“She is beautiful.” I said reaching out to scratch this adorable pup behind her ear. “When you get more control of your jepei, you can start unlocking some parts of your animal spirit. In your case, your stamina is gonna be insane. This canine can run for hours on end, pretty good hunters as well.”
“As I have been told,” Tatiana said, taking her pup off the table and sitting her on her lap. “It’s been hard, lately, but I don’t hate my cousin. She is just really fucking annoying, and I don’t want her to be ruined.”
“How so?”
Tatiana turned her gaze off me and seemed to be staring into the wave of cars that were passing by. “Trinity was planning something really stupid, like really really stupid that is just gonna get her in a lot of trouble, her daddy says it’s okay and she wants my help to get it done. Says it would be a nice training exercise in controlling this jepei stuff in me. She wants to sneak into NYPD headquarters and get all the information of her daddy that she can and destroy it.”
“What?!” I asked in disbelief.
“Are you fucking deaf?” Tatiana snapped, hurting my feelings a tiny bit in the process. As she noticed that she looked back at me with apolgocitc eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just have been stressed, okay. Ever since I got this stuff, I have been helping Trinity in secret get information on her daddy, so we can destroy it. I have been forced to be her back up in certian things, it’s why I don’t hang out with her that much anymore. I only go to that stupid club of hers cause they have the best smoothies in the city, and I liked the other in our group. I am not a criminal and I don’t want to join my cousin, my uncle and my own dad in that life style.” Tatiana reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I just want to be me, I want to go to college, I want to be a doctor, or a gymnast, I haven't decided yet.” Her lips lifted slightly at that last part, a weak smile that held no strength to stay on her face for long.
“How can I help you, and why do you think I can help you?”
“Because, my cousin really likes you and trusts you. Especially after you helped them in that last performance before Aaliyah was shot. You’re the only one I think that could maybe help her get out of this situation safely, maybe help her see that this is not the way. Maybe get her away from my uncle. He has only been making her worse, especially with the idea of her taking over his empire when she turns 18, and he wants me to be her guard. Even wants me to start training with that new girl friend of his. What was her name again.”
“Do not train with Katherine Bloodthorn,” I said seriously placing a hand to my side where I still held the one mark I refused to let heal. “Don’t even think about it, please don’t do that.”
Titiana tiled her head in confusion but seemed to accept my answer. “Alright than…” She sat up a bit more as our meal was brought to us. Her only getting what looked to be somekind of fish sandwich, but I had gotten a double cheeseburger, and a twenty count nuggets. “You are really gonna eat all of that?” She asked.
“Trust me,” I said lifting one of these nuggets up to my mouth. “This is barely gonna be enough if I am being honest, thanks to my animal spirit. I tend to eat either my full or twice my weight in an entire day.”
“And how much do you weigh?”
“Not telling,” I answered with a small giggle that made her smile. “I can do my best, to help your cousin, but it is not gonna be easy. She can be annoyingly stubborn sometimes.”
“Tell me about it,” Tatiana answered. “Speaking of my cousin… I need you to come somewhere with me today.” Tatiana took her phone out. “My uncle sent me this text this morning.”
“How are you doing Tete? I want you to take your cousin out for the afternoon, she is being released today … she has been going though a lot since Aaliyah's accident…. Keep her mind off of what happened…. Use as much money as you want today…. Also invite a few friends since you two fight like cats and dogs…. No pun intended…. Also you are invited to dinner tonight…. Lastly don’t believe everything you see on the news things are okay.”
“What does that last part mean?” I asked once she finished reading.
Tatiana let out a small sigh. “Last night caused a lot of trouble, I heard from my daddy this morning that ORder and Chaos is gonna be closed for a long time. Not only because of teh war that happened last night but for a few more personal things. I don’t know much but it was kinda important that that place stayed strong, cause now things are gonna change…” Tatiana trailed off a bit. “I don’t really care what happens… I do care a teeny tiny bit about my brat of a cousin. So help me save her.”
“I can also help you if you want?”
“How can you help me?”
“Maybe I can take you away from this place? If you are a jepei user, maybe my dad could convince yours to let you come to Tarun Island. I think they are in the middle of summer break, so it would be nice to have you. Maybe even let you stay with a foster family or in the dorms for the semester, all teh credits could go back to your school here if wanted to go back after even one semester.”
“I doubt they would welcome a stranger.”
I smiled at her once more. “You have no idea how welcoming that place is to those that share our gift. Think it over, our island will always be yes as long as you get permission.”
Tatiana seemed to think about it for a few moments. “You are too kind for your own good, that is gonna get you killed in this world. You can’t trust everyone that asks you for help, and you can’t expect to save people that don’t want to be saved.”
Her words seemed off, like both a warning and a threat.
In reality.
They were simply the truth.
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