December 20 | Friday #6
“Because if not, I guess we do have something to talk about, huh?”
Will needed a long moment to compose himself, but finally, at Norma’s encouragement, he sat down in a chair, deciding to hear her out.
“You’re really not normal people?” he asked, still unable to believe it.
“Liam and I aren’t people at all,” Blake corrected him, in a tone that suggested he’d just been offended.
“You know what he meant,” Norma said, then focused her attention on Will. “With vampires and werewolves, it’s a bit more obvious. When did you start noticing that something about you had changed?”
“The first day of school? I think?” For some reason, this declaration surprised the others.
Abby muttered something under her breath that sounded like, Late.
“I have no idea what happened then. I don’t remember how I got home.
The next morning, I woke up in my own bed, unable to remember where I’d been or what I’d done. ”
“That could be related to the Awakening,” Norma stated.
“I went through mine pretty smoothly, apart from setting my math teacher’s house on fire, but I’ve heard of people who sleepwalked.
Maybe something similar happened to you.
Anyway, it’s a difficult time. Your powers are emerging.
You don’t know how to control them yet, so things like today happen.
You’ll learn in time. None of us will be able to help you with that, because it’s a personal thing, but treat your abilities like any other skill.
Soon you’ll be able to control your power, give it direction and form, and keep it in check.
Like I said, the fact that you’re seventeen complicates things a bit, but either way, you have to get initiated into this world, or things will go badly.
Your parents never mentioned any unusual abilities? ”
“My parents are dead.”
“Oh.”
“Subtle,” Blake commented with distaste.
“My grandparents never mentioned anything,” Will clarified. “Am I to understand that my family has magical powers too?”
“Not necessarily. Since you have them, they must be in your genes, but magic doesn’t always manifest. Sometimes it stays dormant for several generations. So there’s a good chance they have no idea.”
“Should I tell them?”
“No!” Norma exclaimed firmly. “That’s the thing. You can’t tell anyone who isn’t… initiated. Not your family, not your friends, not your boyfriend.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“What about that handsome, scruffy guy you hang out with?”
Will rolled his eyes.
“That’s Danny. He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Either way, don’t tell him anything either.”
“I trust him.”
“That’s not the point. People react… differently.
Some will believe you, some won’t, even if you show them proof.
And in either case, we have a serious problem.
Either someone will think you’re crazy and want to cure you or at least spread your ridiculous fantasies, or someone will believe you and get scared.
Or curious. They’ll start digging. Asking questions.
Prying. Eventually, they’ll attract someone’s attention. ”
“Like who?”
“Like the government,” Blake stated.
“The government?” Will repeated in disbelief.
“Did you think the people in charge aren’t aware of our existence?” Norma laughed freely. “There’s a special agency designated to handle paranormal cases. You wouldn’t want to cross paths with them, and you’d want to cross paths with the Hunters even less.”
“Hunters of what?”
“Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. They usually have one specialty, because killing someone with special abilities isn’t easy.
In any case, these aren’t just some conspiracy theorists who’ve read too many cheesy romance novels or horror stories and imagine creatures like us based on current pop culture trends.
They don’t believe, they know, because the knowledge about us is passed down from generation to generation.
That’s why you can’t tell anyone. And you can’t pull stunts like you did today. You need to control yourself better.”
“I don’t know how.”
“You’ll learn.” Norma smiled encouragingly. “It’s a matter of time. Wizards have their specialties, too. Most wield elemental magic, usually favoring one element, but that’s not a strict rule. Abby is a spirit mage. That’s… Well, we won’t complicate your life too much right now.”
“And I’m a… electricity mage?” Will muttered, frowning.
“Uhh… no. Magic comes from natural sources. Electricity isn’t very natural.”
“Lightning?” Abby interjected with a pitying tone.
“Okay, fine,” Norma conceded. “It’s not out of the question, actually, but it’s unlikely.
You can check if you feel any different during a thunderstorm, but don’t get too attached to that theory.
Affecting electronics doesn’t mean you have anything to do with electricity.
It just means you’re generating a lot of energy and apparently disrupting it somehow.
It’s not that important; you’ll find out sooner or later. ”
Will fell silent. Not that important? How could something like that not be important?
“Any more questions?” Norma asked him.
About a billion.
“Why are you telling me all this?” Will asked. “I assume I’m supposed to be grateful, but I still…”
“No,” Norma interrupted. “You don’t have to be grateful, because we’re not doing this for you.
We’re doing it for our own good. I mentioned the Agency, right?
As long as our community solves its own problems…
initiates new members, gets rid of trouble, and doesn’t draw too much attention…
the Agency leaves us alone and gives us a free hand.
But when things start to get complicated, everyone’s screwed, not just the ones who messed up directly. ”
Will remained silent, overwhelmed by everything he had heard.
Norma smiled apologetically.
“It’ll get easier with time.”
A few minutes later, Will was leaving the school in her company.
“How old is Blake?” he asked suddenly.
“Huh?”
“A hundred? Two hundred? More?”
Norma started laughing.
“Seventeen.”
“Seriously?” Will mumbled skeptically. He’d probably watched too many movies, because he’d been expecting some centuries-old creature pretending to be a teenager.
“Seriously. Why do you ask?”
“For a second, I was picturing him as some kind of medieval lord. Old-fashioned, snobbish, nasty, prejudiced, misogynistic… It fits him to a T.”
Norma started laughing again.
“You still have a lot to learn about vampires.”
A moment later, Blake walked past them without a word.
“And that’s lesson number one,” Norma said. “They have excellent hearing.”
Will turned pale.
“He’s not going to bite me for that, is he?” he asked in all sincerity, for some unknown reason causing another fit of laughter from Norma.
“Probably not.”
That didn’t sound reassuring.
Will returned home feeling completely detached from the reality around him.
“Dude, I was about to organize a search party,” Danny said, appearing in the hallway. “Where’d you disappear to?”
“I had to stop by the school for a minute.”
“Uh-huh. You get the chips?”
“Hm?”
“I texted you.”
“I didn’t see it, sorry.”
“So what did you get?”
“I didn’t go to the store.”
Danny gave him a careful look.
“Then why are you back so late? Did you have that… fugue thing again?”
“No. Everything’s fine, Danny. I misplaced my phone and it took a while to find it. I completely forgot about the store.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” Will assured him, heading to his room. “I just have a headache. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure.”
What a day.
October 4 | Friday
The sound of his alarm woke him. He got up, his mind immediately replaying yesterday’s conversation.
“Fuck me,” he whispered in disbelief before leaving the room.
He went downstairs. Music was coming from the kitchen, so it seemed Danny was already up.
“Hey,” Will said, entering the room.
“Hey yourself.” Danny gave him a searching look. “I made sandwiches. Help yourself.”
Will sat down at the table and grabbed a sandwich. Danny was still watching him.
“You should see a doctor about those headaches,” he finally said. “It could be something serious.”
Magic. Will felt like he was losing his mind.
And to hell with magic, he could almost accept that part, but vampires?
Werewolves? It was absurd. Maybe the conversation never even happened.
Maybe he’d dreamed it up. Or maybe he’d inhaled some kind of fumes during the visit to KC and was hallucinating.
“Hello? Earth to Will!”
“I hear you, I hear you,” Will mumbled, though he had no idea what his friend had just said. “God, can you turn that crap off?” he snapped, irritated. The music was really grating on him.
Danny’s eyes widened.
“That’s Venom.”
“Maybe, but it’s a terrible song.”
“It’s Nocturne!”
Will snorted loudly, about to inform his friend that he knew what his favorite song sounded like, and this racket was definitely not it…
…except that after listening more closely to the lyrics, he realized he was wrong. It was Nocturne. Sort of.
“This has to be a different version,” he stated with complete conviction. Even Danny’s off-key singing sounded better than this howling! “The original sounds better.”
“Dude, this is the original! Straight from the single! Something is seriously wrong with you,” Danny declared, looking genuinely concerned.
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Will replied, a little too sharply. He was probably trying to convince himself. “I’m just sick of it, that’s all.”
What was happening to him? Was a sudden change in musical taste also part of this whole Awakening? Apparently so, because he couldn’t find any other explanation for the fact that he didn’t recognize a song he’d listened to on repeat all summer.
They started out at the same time today, so they walked to school together. After entering the building, they stopped at their lockers. Norma walked past them.
“Hey,” she said cheerfully, smiling at Will.
Will stared at her, completely surprised.
“H-hey,” he stammered, a bit flustered. He hadn’t expected them to talk to each other openly. He wasn’t sure why.