Yeah, they were making that so easy.
Chase nodded though, so I followed instructions. My steps were so hesitant and short that many were required to make the journey. “This is silly. There’snothingto worry about. Chase has been helping me when—ah, what, what’s going on?”
The same odd light show from before filled the air for a moment. Oh, a trap, Chase had mentioned. A small rectangle of red light penned Chase and me in.
The red light appeared whenever I tried to cross. Nothing there tangibly, but it kept me at bay. I couldn’t move forward.
Had I seen this somewhere before? …it was somewhat like how the lights at a concert looked the one time I tried a party drug in college before deciding I valued being clear headed far too much to experiment with strange substances just for a good time.
Unease trickled down my spine, caught in a strange trap. But this distressed my father even more than me. .
“No, that’s not possible.” Dad whispered the words, fight draining from him as he lowered his weapon. He dropped down, catching the coffee table, possibly on accident as he might have fallen to the floor otherwise. “It’s not supposed to hold you. You were never supposed to know about any of this. We were supposed to protect you."
"Protect me from what?" I asked.
He smiled sadly. “From getting caught in shifter traps.”
Shifter traps. Did that mean the only people caught by shifter traps were shif—no. My family knew about the supernatural world but that didn’t mean, it couldn’t mean…
“Okay, I’m lowering the trap. No funny business.” Dad approached us, weapon held at his side as he kicked a dark stone on the floor out of its place, presumably dropping the barrier.
“Yeah,” Gary agreed, raising his weapon, though not pointing it at anyone in particular. “It’s still two against one.”
“Actually, it’s not.”
Chase moved before I realized, seizing my uncle’s weapon in a flash while Temple waltzed in. Dad clutched his rifle-taser protectively, unsure what to do.
“We’re with the Department of Supernatural Affairs,” Temple said. “My partner and I are gonna take over here to sort things out and ensure nobody shoots themselves or anybody else with a weapon they don’t fully understand or know how to use.”
“We know how to use them,” Gary promised. “…Department of what now?”
“Once we’re all settled in and weapon free, we’ll hand over our badges for you to inspect to your heart’s content.”
Temple held out his hand and Dad gave up his weapon.
“I’m sorry,” Dad told me. “We tried so hard… all we wanted was…”
“To keep him human?” Chase filled in.
“No,” Dad said. "To keep himsafe."
~
Lucas
After we sat down in the living room, badges were handed over and inspected. I stared at Uncle Gary’s fireplace and wanted to skip to the explanations. Processing took time. My dad kept repeating the words ‘law enforcement’. He’d lived with one idea of the supernatural world in his head and was beginning to see more sides existed.
The fireplace and large mantle looked impressive in Gary’s masculine, leather-filled living room. I still thought it unnecessary since the temperature only dipped cold enough to justify lighting a fire once or twice a year.
Then Dad cleared his throat and putting off the explanations a little longer didn’t sound so bad.
“I was worried when I didn’t hear from you last night, Lucas. There was no sign of you at your apartment, and my alarms were tripped at home today.”
"You don’t have a security system.” I pointed out immediately before recalling all the strange items around us. “Or do you?"
"Here, at home, and at your apartment. It tells us when something supernatural enters the property. Of course this is the only time it went off. Gary and I decided to consolidate here and wait for whoever was onto us."
This explanation cleared up why they were waiting with supernatural weapons and strange traps, not the big questions.
