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Silently, I shook my head as tears tracked down my cheeks. “No Mommy, I can’t run. Not without you. I’m too little. I can’t.”
She started pushing me away as the shouts came closer. I could hear them yelling about catching the girl. “You are strong, sweet Halley. So strong. You can do this, and you will.” The shouting seemed to be on top of us as I watched Mommy begin to walk around the tree. “Run, Halley. Run!”
I turned away and started sprinting, hearing the urgency in her voice. I could still hear the shouts behind me and thought of Mommy’s words.I was strong. I could do this. Don’t look back.A loud shot rang through the forest, and I couldn’t help but turn around. I wish I hadn’t. Mommy’s body lay on the ground as men and women frantically searched the area, looking forme.I took one last look back, staring at the man who held the gun that killed my mother. And then I turned and ran as sobs wracked my body. I never looked back again.
A loud honk jostled me out of my nightmare, and I took in my surroundings. I had just arrived in New York City last night and the morning traffic buzzed around me. People walking briskly, the subway clinking below my feet, and the constant horns of cars. As congested as the city felt, I experienced a breath of fresh air in the midst of the chaos. I had always loved large cities. Large cities meant lots of people and lots of people meant anonymity. Something I not only craved, but something I needed to survive. It had been almost ten years since my mother had sacrificed herself for me. Ten long years of running from a threat I knew nothing about. The truth, when I sat back and looked at my childhood years, I knew little to nothing about my life and still didn’t. I never knew why we moved, I never knew of any family my mother had, hell, I didn’t even know my own father. The only thing I knew was that my mother’s love encompassed me and everything she did before her death protected me. So, I took her last words and I lived by them. In the past ten years, I had fended for myself and stayed strong. Part of me always wondered if Mom had seen this possible future. Although just a child, she had taught me how to survive on my own. And so, since her death, I had moved all over the realm and not once had I ever looked back. Sometimes, when the exhaustion from constantly being alone and on the run caught up to me, I wondered if the threat still existed. If I even had a reason to still run. I couldn’t fathom looking for a single person for ten years and I often wondered if my fear unjustifiably stayed with me. But by this point, I didn’t know any other way of living, so running is what I did.
I meandered around the city, searching for the next place I would call home. Another positive of large cities, there’s always a shelter to spend the night in and get a free meal. I had left Dallas almost a week ago and had made the trek to New York by bus. I had wanted to be in my new city by the time my birthday rolled around, a fresh start to another year in my life. And I had achieved my goal, as today marked June 19thand my 20thbirthday.
As I walked the busy street, I passed a bakery with beautifully decorated cupcakes on display and couldn’t help but stop. Growing up and moving so much, we often didn’t have money for big gifts or friends for birthday parties, but Mom would religiously get me a cupcake every year and a single candle. Over the years, I hadn’t done anything special for my birthday, given the little money I had, but this year felt different. I felt I could stay in New York City for longer than usual due to being the largest city in the world. And that gave me a sense of security I haven’t felt in a long time. So even with minimal money to my name, I meandered into the quaint shop, a small sense of happiness engulfing me.
The bubbly girl behind the counter bounced with excitement to find cupcakes she thought I would enjoy after hearing I had never been to the bakery before, and her excitement rubbed off on me. So instead of the singular cupcake from my childhood, I left the bakery with half a dozen delicious looking cupcakes. I kept walking until I found an area with tables set up for sitting and eating. I took a two-seat table and opened my cupcake box. I chose the chocolate on chocolate, remembering how the flavor was always Mom’s favorite. As I stared at the cupcake, I felt her presence. It might be silly, getting emotional over a piece of dessert, but over the years my memories of Mom faded and having a moment like this felt special.
“I miss you Mommy,” I whispered under my breath, and I felt a cool breeze wrap around my bare arms.
Smiling to myself, I went to take a bite when a loud screech alerted me to the chair across from me being pulled back. Immediately, my smile disappeared, and I edged away. I didn’t like strangers. Really, I didn’t like people in general. And I especially didn’t like large men, one of which sat across from me. The man didn’t say anything, just stared at me, and with terror freezing me to the spot, I eyed the man up. He was averylarge man. At least six foot four inches and built like a football player, the man oozed intimidation to say the least. His dark brown eyes and the scowl adorning his lips didn’t help with the fear sizzling through my veins. Finally, my instincts kicked in and I hurriedly stood up from the table, completely forgoing my box of cupcakes. My happiness from just seconds before completely vanished. The large man stood in sync with me, and I couldn’t help but start to shake with fear. Was this one of the men that was chasing after me? One of the ones my mom had done so much to protect me from? Although I had been running for so long, after that dreadful night I had never encountered a threat, besides the normal ones all women faced, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t a fighter. Without much more thought, I began walking away, trying to get lost in the city crowd. Instinctually, I knew the man followed me, but he towered over my small frame, and I could weave through people better than him. I stood by my mother’s words and refused to look back to see if he trailed behind me still. Looking back got you caught.
After walking for at least an hour, I convinced myself I had lost the man. I turned down a dark alley and finally looked behind me onto the busy street. No one. I took a deep breath. Maybe New York wasn’t the place for me. I would have to find somewhere else and start planning the move. I turned back towards the alley, planning to cross through to another street, when I saw the man at the opposite end of the alleyway.How the hell had he found me and how had I not noticed?Turning back around, ready to sprint like my life depended on it, because I’m pretty sure it did, the man finally spoke.
“Don’t bother. Wherever you go, I’ll find you now. I have your scent.” He mumbled lowly, gruff and deep, but I didn’t understand his words. He said scent as if he meant itliterally.Did he have hunting dogs or something? I turned back towards the man, realizing I couldn’t run. But maybe I could talk my way out of this. I had street smarts if I had nothing else.
“What do you want? I don’t have any money. I can’t give you anything.” I prided myself for my steady voice, contrasting to how I felt on the inside.I was strong,I reminded myself.
The man started chuckling slowly, sending a shiver down my spine and raising the hairs on my arms.
“Seriously, money? Obviously, I know you don’t have money.” He eyed my clothes as if they were an answer on their own. And to be honest, they kind of were. The men’s shirt from the thrift store that I had cut into a tank top and frayed jean shorts said more than enough about my monetary status. But still, “If you don’t want money, then why are you following me?” I knew it was slightly crazy to talk to the man that may want to kill me, but I couldn’t see another option. At least if he told me what he wanted I could figure out my options from there.
"Look sweetheart, this would be a lot easier to talk about if you just came with me. Out here in the open isn’t safe.” He glanced around as if someone would pop out from behind the dumpster. This time I had to stifle a nervous laugh. He worried this area wasn’t safe? For who? Because I couldn’t see any part of this situation that didn’t end with me dead in the dumpster I stood beside.
“I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me what you want from me. If you haven’t realized yet, you’re a large, strange man and I’m a small defenseless girl. I’m not stupid.”
The man sighed in exasperation but answered. “Fine, I get it. Today is your 20thbirthday which means it’s time to attend Willow Grove. I’m here to take you.”
“Willow Grove? Am I supposed to know what that is?” Seriously, this guy was definitely on the crazy side. First, he follows a stranger and now he claims he wants to take me to an unknown location. And how did he know today was my birthday? And what did that have to do with anything? As the time wore on without the man attacking me, I realized confusion mingled with my fear.
“You know Willow Grove Academy? Don’t act like you’ve never heard of the one Divine school in the entire human realm.” Again, the man seemed annoyed with me, but my confusion only grew.
Divine school? I knew of the Divines. 500 years ago, they had come to the human realm and assimilated into our world. Everyone lived in peace until the Divines started attacking humans. The humans went to war with the Divines and their entire people were killed off. But why the hell would I know about an academy for a group of people that had gone extinct centuries ago. And what would it have to do with me. I asked the man as much.
He began walking closer towards me as he spoke. “You’re joking right? The Divines sure as fuck are not all dead. No matter how much the Hunters want us to be. How could you not know about the academy? Did your parents keep you under a rock or some shit?”
At the word parents, my breath catches.Mom.I knew so little about where I came from. Mom wasn’t forthcoming about anything from her past. Could she have been a Divine? Was that why we had been running? Why would she not tell me we were Divine or that they even existed still?
The man stood right in front of me at this point and looked exasperated. Apparently, this wasn’t the experience he had been expecting. It definitely wasn’t the experience I had been expecting either.
“Look, obviously something weird is going on here, but I don’t have the time for it, nor do I care. But youarea Divine, we have you in the database, and now that you’re twenty your powers will start to manifest, and you need to learn to control them. That’s what the academy is for.” Taking a pause and scanning the area once more, the man continued. “We need to go. Humans have mostly forgotten about Divines in the last century but there are still those out there actively hunting and killing us. So, either you come with me willingly, or I drag you with me. Your choice sweetheart.”
As I eyed the large man in front of me, it became clear I really didn’t have a choice, no matter what he claimed. The moment the man spotted me at that table, he sealed my future. And although wariness and fear trekked through my veins, Mom’s last words screaming in my head, another part of me felt drained. I had been on the run for the last ten years and I was tired. I wanted to be done running. For once, I wanted some answers. And it seemed this man had them.
“Let’s do this.” I responded, stepping towards the man, and an unknown future as every instinct in my body told me my life was about to change. I only hoped it wasn’t for the worse.
Chapter Two
Knox
The visions swirled in my mind. With my eyes tightly closed, they were all I could see. Some were clearer than others, the possible paths of the people I cared for easy to see and the futures already set in stone. Others were blurry, either because I didn’t know the people or because there were too many possibilities. But right now, I searched for Madden’s specific and near future. I flipped through the visions, as if skipping channels, before I landed on the one I hunted for. The image of Madden trekking through the streets of New York City played before me and I focused in as a girl came into view, finally –
“Hey loser, you see them coming yet?” The happy voice disrupted my concentration, and the vision disappeared into the expanse of futures. I opened my eyes to glare at the intruder. My best friend, and often bane of my existence, smiled largely at me.
