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“Well then, I shouldn't be in there, so it won't matter if you try to look me up. ”
“I suppose not. ” She shrugged and waved her hands in front of her screens. Then her eyes narrowed. “Oh. ”
“What?” My stomach felt like a brick, heavy and sharp in my abdomen.
“I--you--there is a classification. ” She looked up at me, concern shadowing her face.
“What does it say?” I whispered.
“Evie, it does not change anything. It does not change you. ”
“What does it say?” My voice was hard. After a few seconds, Lish looked back at the screen.
“It says you are a 'Level Seven Paranormal, unknown origin, mortal form. ' Your status listings are 'protected, in use,' and 'under observation. '”
I shook my head in disbelief. Paranormals were categorized according to several factors: level of power, how common they were, how dangerous they were, and how much was known about them. Vamps were a two. Lish was a four. Faeries--faeries--were a six. I had never met a seven.
I felt like my mind had short-?circuited. I always knew I was weird. But I figured I was a normal human who could do something paranormal. Not a paranormal who could do some things human.
“Evie,” Lish said, waiting until I met her eyes. “You have always known you were different. Do not let this change the way you see yourself. IPCA is--” She paused, then moved closer to the glass. “IPCA is not always right about everything. You are not paranormal. ” She smiled at me, sadness behind her wide, green eyes. “You are special. There is a difference. ”
I couldn't cry, not yet, and being with Lish right now hurt. I knew she understood, but I wasn't ready to face this, so I just nodded and walked slowly out. I wandered, numb, through the Center. When I was nearly back to my room, the white outline of a door showed up on the wall ahead of me. I paused, waiting to see who would come out. I might even have welcomed Reth at that point.
It turned out to be a different faerie. She had done a few transports for me but I didn't know her name. She walked out with a werewolf, then turned to go back through.
“Wait!” I called. The Faerie turned to me, her large, violet eyes disinterested. “I need a transport. ”
“I don't have transport orders for you. ”
“Just came in; you know I have clearance. ” I tried to look impatient. “This has priority. ”
Nodding impassively, she held out a hand. I took it and we walked into the dark. “Where?”
I bit my lip. I hadn't actually thought about it. “Umm--” Then I remembered one of my bag-?and-?tags a couple months back. It had been in Florida, near a mall. What was the mall's name? “The Everglades Shopping Center, in Miami. ” I hoped that was enough. Usually their instructions came from Lish--I didn't know how specific the directions had to be. The way Lish explained it to me once was that all names are powerful for faeries. If you could name where you wanted them to go, they could find it.
Weird, but it came in handy today; after a few more steps a door opened in front of us. I stepped out. “Thanks,” I said, but the faerie was already gone.
Nearly all my trips out were at night. Lifting my head, I enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my face, the tickle of humidity. It was March but the weather was perfect here. The entrance to the mall was just ahead of me. Nearby, surrounded by palm trees and hibiscus with brilliant red blossoms, were a couple of benches. I sat down, soaking the heat in through my T-?shirt. I was still a little cold--I was always a little cold--but this was a world of improvement from the Center.
After a few minutes I went in, wandering through the crowds and annoyed at the excessive AC. Watching normal people usually cheered me up whenever I got a chance to do it. Today it made me feel even worse. What if I really didn't belong here? I had always felt almost smug toward the paranormals, because at the end of the day, no matter what, I was still human. I didn't have to be monitored or neutered. I wasn't stuck in a glass tank. They made my life look a lot better. Now I wasn't so sure.
Depressed and worried, I found a bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. Maybe I had been missing something. If Lend didn't know what he really looked like, maybe I had never looked at myself closely enough. I searched for anything underneath, lingering on my pale eyes, looking for any clue that I, too, was more than what I seemed.
Nothing.
There was nothing there. No shimmering hint of something, no glowing eyes, no body underneath my body. It was just me, just like every other human I'd ever looked at.
Except not just like them, because I could see things no one else could.
I left the bathroom dejected. I had nothing. No wallet, no purse, no identity. There was nothing for me in the real--in the normal--world. Whether or not I was paranormal, I didn't belong here. I sat down on another bench and watched. Couples that couldn't seem to get their hands out of each other's back pockets. Girls with their arms linked as they gossiped about who liked who and who said what and OMG, are you kidding me. All of them going about their wonderful, normal lives. They didn't know anything. I envied them.
I was still sitting there when someone sat next to me. “Evie. ” Raquel took my hand. “Hon, what are you doing?”
I shook my head. “I don't know. ”
“I should have told you about your classification a long time ago. I'm sorry. ”
I sniffled. If I started crying in the mall I would never forgive myself. “Why d
