Page 17 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“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.”