Either my life was about to get incredibly interesting, or someone had really put effort behind an elaborate prank. But, I knew my next step, and I wasn't about to find out whether the creature was real or not. I spun on my heel and darted through the supermarket. I almost smacked into the automatic doors when they slid back too slowly.
A car honked at me when I bolted out in front of it in an attempt to get to my own vehicle. Tearing the keys from my pocket, I unlocked the car, dove in, and grabbed a handful of the wads of paper from my floorboard to find the number.
After searching about thirty papers, I finally found the one I needed. I jerked my phone from my back pocket, punched in the number, and forced myself to suck in deep breaths while the phone rang.
"What'd you see, Ms. Madison?" a feminine voice drawled by way of greeting.
"I have no idea," I said. "Why don't you tell me?"
"There are several possibilities. Based on the location from your phone right now and cross referencing that with the supernatural databases, you're in a pretty active spot."
"Active spot?" I repeated, the word 'supernatural' still ringing in my ears. "Active for what?"
"All the things that go bump in the night, of course. Look, are you in immediate danger?"
I sat up straight and glanced in each of my mirrors. Nothing or no one was around my car. No one was inside of it, and the doors were locked. "No, I… I'm fine."
"Right, then I'll stop by your apartment later and we can talk about everything in detail. You need to get out of the hotspot."
"How do you even know I live in an apartment?"
"I have your address. There's nothing setting off our systems, so the house should be safe. Get there, get settled, I'll be by in a bit. I'm going to have to clean up the mess you made at the supermarket first."
"But I—" Silence. She'd hung up on me.
She didn't even have my address! What the hell was going on? Why was she going on about supernatural creatures and databases and… Gods, who on earth was about to show up at my apartment an hour before midnight?
Raking my fingers through my hair, I took another few deep breaths to pull myself together, and then backed out of my parking spot. Whatever the situation was, it had to be a prank. I didn't know who would be pranking me. I only had a few friends, and all of them lived at least an hour away. They also wouldn't have gone to all the trouble it would take to create a ruse that elaborate.
It wasn't real though. There was no fucking way.
Right?
I shook my head at myself for even entertaining the thought. Religion was a difficult concept for me to wrap my head around, let alone the existence of supernatural creatures and magic. No, there had to be something else happening, but what could it have been?
The entire ride home, I debated with myself and theorized about different possibilities. By the time I arrived at my apartment, I hadn't come any closer to understanding the situation. So, I shot up the stairs on the side of the building, unlocked my door, and flopped onto the couch. Toeing my shoes off, I realized that I'd just dropped my things at the supermarket. I didn't even have any food.
"God, if this is just some fucking prank…"
Well, really, it'd been a bit of an inconvenience, but I'd be lying if I said it hadn't become a sudden bright spot in my evening. It'd piqued my interest and kept me distracted for a little over an hour by that time. I was hungry, but at least I wasn't bored. I'd been bored enough over the last few months.
A knock on the door drew me out of my head. I walked over and peered through the peephole. Standing outside was a petite woman with tight black curls and sepia-colored skin. Tight, dark-wash blue jeans hugged her legs, while a loose, black tank top showed off the muscles of her biceps.
She knocked again and folded her arms over her chest as she glared into the peephole, as if she could see me standing there, scrutinizing her.
I opened the door a crack, just enough to speak to her. "Who are you?"
"I'm your impossible consult for the poltergeist you saw at the supermarket, Ms. Madison." It was the same woman who had spoken to me on the phone. "I'd appreciate it if you would let me in."
She wasn't armed. Her outfit didn't allow for any holsters or anything, but by her build, I figured she didn't need much protection. Still, I wanted answers, and I could think of worse things than getting my ass kicked. It'd be an interesting story to tell anyway.
I opened my door a little wider and stepped back. "Come on in."
Thanking me, she stepped inside, and I closed the door behind her. I motioned for her to follow me farther into the living room. I sat on the sofa and motioned for her to sit in the adjacent chair.
"So, who put you up to this?"
She shook her head. "You're more intelligent than this, Ms. Madison. You don't have many friends, certainly none that feel close enough to stage something this elaborate."
Not incorrect about that one.
"Strangers don't tend to do this sort of thing either, which leaves only a small handful of other options, one of which being that this is all very real."
I snorted as I folded my arms over my chest. "You better have come with proof if you expect me to so much as entertain the idea that this is real. If you wanted me to jump on this bandwagon without as many questions, you should've hit me up when I was seven."
The woman sighed as she propped her head up on her fist. "You moved your hands and sent several shelves flying earlier. Do it again."
"That was a coincidence."
"You don't believe in coincidences."
I leaned forward, studying her features more closely. Maybe I'd recognize her or something. "How do you know that?"
"Because I've had a file on you since you were born, and we've had people observing you to gather more data." She smiled sweetly at me. "Don't get that look. We watch over all human hybrids to ensure nothing goes awry during the transformative years."
"Hybrids? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'll answer your questions after I've seen you move something again."
I sighed and glanced around the room. A throw pillow sat next to me on the sofa. I looked at it and waved my hand, willing it to move across the room. I figured nothing would happen, and I'd be stuck there waving my hand around like a moron, but no. Instead, I got more than I bargained for and ended up watching all the cushions on the other half of the sofa go flying across the room, smack into the wall, and hit the floor.
"Okay, answer this," I said, looking back at the woman. "How was that not happening two hours ago?"
Her smile turned a bit more excited. "Now you're asking the right questions. Human hybrids don't work like other creatures. They come into their abilities irregularly, especially depending on the secondary species. As far as we can tell, you're half witch, so you didn't get the most volatile genes out there. However, witch genes are far more difficult to predict. Some magic comes out when you're under severe stress, some appear during puberty, others just wake up one day and have the ability to do things they couldn't before. In your case, it looks like extreme boredom activated your magical genes, which has allowed you to suddenly be able to tap into telekinesis."
I blinked. "I'm telekinetic? And half-witch? And there are other people who have this problem?"
"Yes," she said. "In the human realm, supernatural creatures comprise a little less than one-seventh of the population."
"So almost a billion people on this planet aren't even human?"
"Now you're gettin' it. There are more creatures out there in other realms, but for one reason or another, some end up here. In time, you're welcome to jump between the realms, but until you learn more about that world and your abilities, you will be confined to the human realm. It's safer for all involved—this tends to be the less erratic realm. Of course, you also have the option of putting all of this off, waiting a while, and perhaps never leaving this realm. Some creatures decide to stay here and live as normal of a life as they can. What with the immortality and increased healing factor, that isn't always easy, but many have had success in finding peace in their human side. If that seems more appealing to you, I can arrange to—"
"Fuck that."
The woman blinked owlishly. "Excuse me?"
"I've been bored as shit, and you really think I'm going to ignore the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me?" I chuckled and chewed at my lower lip, trying to bite back a grin. "Oh no, if this is actually real and I have magic powers and there are weird creatures all around the earth and different fucking realms of existence, you can bet your ass the wrong human just got involved."
I couldn't even stop the grin from stretching across my face. "Oh, I'm gonna fuck shit up."
"Ms. Madison, I'm sorry, but I do have to ask that you try to lay low for a while until you're more educated about this. We can't risk exposure to the humans—as harmless as they are, they're overly curious, and for the sake of universal balance, it's in everyone's best interest that they do not get curious about this."
"So keep my mouth shut around humans, no problem." I stood from the sofa and walked over to the window. "You never did tell me your name."
"Channing Miller—Director of the Human Hybrid Overwatch Division. My job is to run the division that's responsible for locating, tracking, educating, and promoting human hybrids successes in their nonhuman lives. So, now that we've met, our next step is to start educating you. The timetable for this—"
"I'm free most nights between 22:30 and 2:30. Classes are starting up again, so I won't have as much free time, but I'll still be around. So, shoot me a letter or creepy ass note again when you've got a class schedule for me, and I'll be there." I turned around and focused on the door… No better way to test the telekinetic thing than to do it unprovoked.
I twitched my finger, watching in amusement as it swung open gently, like a breeze had pushed it open. Channing's face scrunched into a frown as I smirked at her.
"Fine, I'll leave you be for now, Ms. Madison—"
"Daisy."
"Daisy," she said, correcting herself tightly. "I'm leaving you for now, but based on your prior records, as well as your current behavior, I believe you to be a potential threat to supernatural security. Sometimes this happens, and I want you to thrive, so I will be assigning you a guardian."
I rolled my eyes. "Sorry I didn't react like someone in one of those shitty fantasy movies where they get all humbled and swear to abide by the rules. This is cool as shit! Of course I want to explore a little bit. There are whole other worlds out there. Who wouldn't want to tap into that?"
Channing sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose for a long moment. "Your guardian will come by to meet you sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be keeping a watch on you. I mean it, Daisy, one word to the humans and you'll be locked up before you can so much as lift a finger. Understood?"
I twitched my finger again, opening the door a little wider. "I hear you."
With another deep breath, she walked out of my apartment. I shut the door behind her with a flick of my fingers and grinned. While I still wasn't entirely sure that I wasn't dreaming or dying, I knew that I was sure as hell going to make the most of things.
So, I grabbed my laptop, sat on the sofa, and started writing about the experience I had two short hours ago. If all of this was real, and I had magical powers, and I was a fucking supernatural hybrid…