I clutched the arm of the chair as Victor drew the final vile of blood. He then injected a green liquid into my neck. My chin hit my chest as my vision started to swirl. The ticking of a clock and a pen scratching on paper was the only thing that I heard for what seemed like forever. Then the snapping of a bone. I cried out in pain as limbs started to jerk against the restraints. My vision snapped into focus as my hand went from a normal human hand to the claw of a dragon. Skin tore down my back as two huge wings sprouted out. The chair that I was tied to broke with a resounding snap. I took the chance and ran. I had no reason to stay. The person that I was protecting was gone. CPS took her away.

" Hey, get back here. We have a deal. Just because the brat got taken away doesn't mean that you can do what you want." Victor yelled as he chased me.

I was in so much pain that all I could do was run. I was on autopilot. My lungs screamed with each step I took as I hightailed it out of the building. The sunlight burned my eyes as I opened the door. I picked a direction and just ran. Soon I hit something with a thud. I stared wide-eyed into the barrel of a gun. Towering over me was a man with white hair and green eyes. He had scars running down one side of his face.

He tilted his head and in a deep voice asked" Now what do we have here?"

I felt the tears slide down my face as I cried " Please you have to help me. I can't do this anymore."

" Now why would I do that?" He asked

I looked around the area trying to think of something then I noticed the body. There was blood pooling around it.

" I won't tell anyone what I saw."

"What is stopping me from killing you to keep you quiet?"

" Then do it." I cried " I am tired of living in pain. They took my only friend away and now I am alone with him."

The man took a step back, surprise was written all over his face. The gun lowered as a wave of pain shot through me. I curled into a ball and cried until the pain eased. The old man looked very uncomfortable.

"How about this kid? You help me hide this body and then we can go take care of the guy that did this to you."

I shook my head and said " You can't kill him. I tried."

The man looked at me with a strange look and said " The only thing that can't be killed is a god and that is because I haven't met one yet."

I pulled down part of my shirt and showed the mark that Victor carved into my chest. The pain of getting it was one of the worst that I had ever felt. The man put away the gun and offered me his hand.

" I don't know what kind of sick bastard can do this to a kid" He said " But I will do what I can to help you get that thing off of you. My name is Erin. What is yours?"

" Olivia."

For the next eight years Erin took me under his wing. I learned a lot from him. Everything from how to control my shift to how to kill a man. Before I knew it I was running the Cepheus group.

***********************************************************************************************

I was typing away on the computer when my door busted open. Brenda stormed in. She set two packages on my desk while flipping her hair over your shoulder.

" Are you finally tired of the boring brown hair?" I asked

" Are you tired of the standard black?" she snapped back

" No. The day I choose another color is the day I finally cut my hair."

"You really need to. I don't know how you do it. I would sit on it all the time." she replied

" I do it all the time. Want to tell me what is in the boxes?" I gestured to the boxes.

" guess" she giggled

" Already did. Thought they were boxes of hair dye."

She shook her head and asked " What's today?"

" Thursday?" I said skeptically. "There was no way I forgot something important, is there?"

She opened one of the boxes and handed me another box. It was a beautifully crafted box. It looked like some kind of jewelry box. The grey box had the Vycreek Magical academy logo on the top. I almost dropped the box.

" Oh shit it is time already." I said

" Hurry up and open it." She squealed

My hand shook as I opened the box. In the box was a blue crystal. As soon as I touched it a light came from the top. A man in his late thirties faced me.

" Hello my name is Howard Richerson. The fact that you are seeing my face means you took the challenge and took our entrance exam. I am proud to tell you that all of your hard work has paid off. As of the moment you can proudly say that you are a student of Vycreek Magical Academy. Your supply list is included with your welcome packet. It will have all the information that you need. Welcome to Vycreek."

I turned to Brenda and nodded to her case. Her hand shook as she opened her case. I suck in a breath seeing her green crystal. Then Mr. Richerson's face appeared and gave the same exact speech. She squealed as she hugged me.

" We did it." She cried

" I knew that we would." I said confidently

She gave me a look that said she knew I was lying. " You work way too damn hard. Even your employees are worried about you. You should ask for help."

" I don't know what you're talking about." I said as I cleaned off my desk and got back to work on my report.

" Look at you. We should be heading down stairs to celebrate but yet here you are working."

" I have to get this report done and then we can go celebrate." I said not even looking up.

Brenda huffed and the door clicked shut as she left. I sighed hoping that she wasn't too mad at me. It's not like the first time we have had this conversation after all. She has been on my case since Erin introduced us. I remember him telling me that a ten year old needed to go out and lay not hang in an office all day. It brings me comfort knowing that I can do it all on my own. She knows that I came from a rough life but I had to be in control of things. The innocent part of me died a long time ago.

I sighed as I hit submit, hopefully Brenda was still down stairs at the club. She was sitting at the bar talking to the bartender. She had changed from the jeans and tee shirt into a short blue silk dress.

" I am surprised that your shoulders do not have frostbite." I said, eyeing the lack of straps on the dress.

" how does something like that stay up" Tent asked

" It works better for me than ,miss boss lady over here because I have bigger boobs."

Trent eyed me up and down and said " just wait till she has the transition surgery." he said

Brenda started to laugh and said " she was born a woman."

" Then why are people talking about the surgery then?" he asked

" I am setting up a fund for the ones that want the surgery but can't afford it. It will be open for any non member of the guild; they just have to work for us doing odds and ends around the club." I clarified

" That is good. I know a few people that are wanting it." he said

" Once I get everything finalized I will let you know. Now get back to work." I said tilting my head to the group of girls waving at him.

As I sat down Brenda asked " was that what you were working on earlier?"

" yeah. Some of the older members are trying to block it. They are saying that god made what he did for a reason."

" That is stupid." she said

" they have the right to their opinion. And I get that it is their belief but to push it on others is not right. That is what makes it weird."

She nodded and took a drink from the glass she handed me. We celebrated well into the night. The next few days were a blur of preparing things then the day came when we board the train to Vycreek.

Vycreek Magical Academy stood tall at the back of the city. The train station was bustling with people probably all here for the entrance ceremony. The professor stood off to the side of the platform. Brenda ran and jumped into his arms. They got several looks from passersby.

"Congratulations for making it through one of the hardest entrance exams in the world." He said as he kissed her on the head.

" Thanks dad." She replied " I am glad that you were able to be here."

" Me too." He said as he pulled me into a hug.

" I thought you were on assignment somewhere else." I said

" And miss my girl's biggest accomplishment?" He said, raising an eyebrow at me " Never."

We had a couple of hours before we had to be at the school for the entrance ceremony, so we decided to explore part of the town. While we were looking around Erin told us the history of the school. Created in 1562 by Victoria Vycreek the academy sought to teach young witches and wizards the true meaning of their powers.

" What do you mean they learn the true meaning of their powers?" I asked

He pulled out a book from his jacket and said " Each witch and warlock has a Shift that makes them what they are. We also have an element that also grants us powers. That element can be influenced by your shift."

" Really" Brenda said " What element is associated with you dad?"

" Since I am a Raven I got the power of Air."

He opened the book and a symbol appeared above it.

snapping the book shut he said " you will learn more about it while at school. I won't take that away from the teachers."

After dropping the professor off at the train stations we headed towards the school. Along the way I noticed a coffee shop called Java Jive. nudging Brenda I said " Lets get some energy"

" you know they won't make it strong enough for you."

" I just want it for the flavor this time" I said