You Wish!

The cops are there when I enter The Cherry Pit. Shit. I turn right back around and book it. Garry will throw me under the bus to save his place and I don’t blame him. I am underage but, I ain’t going down if I can help it.

I run down the street and hear the footsteps behind me. They’re too close. I need to hide. Then I'll be safe. If there’s one thing my mom taught me it's always keep your bottle close and safe. That, and you can’t trust anyone.

I leap up a creaking fire escape and right into an open window to a makeshift home full of broken couches and threadbare blankets. I know the guy who squats here will not be happy but, better him than me.

I jump over the worn couch and through his front door and back down to the street. Slipping into an alley, I hope that the cop following me just runs past.

It seems luck is not on my side today though as our eyes meet. He’s an older officer on the plumper side but you can tell he’s been around the block and knows his shit. I could probably outrun him though.

“Please don’t run anymore. I just ate.” He pleads making me chuckle. I nod and hand over my wrists waiting for my state-issued jewelry. “Oh, none of that. It’s just for running from foster care.”

“Huh, they finally reported me missing?” I ask following the officer to the cruiser. He opens the door and I slide in not bothering to try to buckle in since there’s nothing to buckle. This is not my first rodeo in the back of a squad car.

“No, an unannounced inspection found no children living there.” He explains. That’ll do it. “How long have you been out?”

“About a year.” I shrug making him shake his head and mutter to himself. His partner joins us and the rest of the ride to the station is quiet.

I wait on a bench to await my new sentence. Where are they going to stuff me next to be forgotten about? I grab the cheesy paperback novel from my bag to waste my time with. One of my guilty pleasures is buying those drugstore discount novels. You know the ones, where a Fabio look alike and a windswept lady are in a passionate embrace of various time periods or cultural garb. Yeah, that’s my jam. This one cost me fifty cents and so far it’s a glorious train wreck. I’m hooked.

I’m startled out of my book by a very large man storming towards me. His eyes flash black as he points to me and then to an interview room. I look behind him at the cop who caught me earlier. He just nods. I guess that’s all the comforting vibes I'm going to get. Yay!

I make my way inside where the giant commands me to sit. I obey only to be faced with a piece of paper. The top has a lovely letterhead that I’ve never seen before. A forest green shield with a capital H centered at the top. Havenswood Academy. Sounds like a rich kid school.

“Lyric, after Officer Williams picked you up we realized you were… not exactly what we thought you were.” The giant hedges in a voice as gruff as he looks. Oh no. “This school is for people like us.”

“Like us?” I ask carefully not giving anything away. I don’t even know this behemoth’s name.

“Supes.” He smiles. I think it’s supposed to be comforting but it doesn’t come across that way. It comes across almost feral. Like he’d be delighted to eat me. It doesn’t help that I have no idea what he’s talking about anymore. I’m more of a chili kind of girl, to be honest. Soup is great but what the hell is he on about?

“Uh… well as nice as this is I can’t afford a school like this. I only have a few months to go so just pop me back into the system and I’ll get out of your hair.” I plead.

“Afraid I can’t. You never should have been in the system in the first place. Least of all someone like you. Your kind is rare. I wouldn’t have even recognized you if it wasn’t for Officer Williams knowing a Djinn when he was younger.”

Wow. Again, he just says it like it’s nothing. When in doubt, deny, deny, deny.

“Djinn? Like a genie? You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I laugh then proceed to lie like it’s my job. “I watched supernatural, you’re hilarious but you gotta work on your time and place for this comedy bit.” Big Guy frowns down at me in confusion.

“Just trust me. You’ll want to be here when you start getting your powers.” He says pointing to the paper in front of me. More powers, huh? Great.

“I already told you, I can’t afford to go to this fancy-ass place. I don't know if Williams told you where they picked me up but if I thought this… Havenswood Academy was an option I wouldn’t have been shaking my ass on stage for dollar bills.” I state leaning back in my seat. He looks positively livid at the thought. Guess no one told him.

“Williams!” He roars. The door opens and officer Williams calmly walks in. He smiles kindly at me but I can tell he knows I'm up to no good.

“Yes, Mr. Connell?” he asks softly. He’s kind of awesome for a cop.

“She was stripping?!” He demands.

“It is unconfirmed at this point. We only know where we found her.” Williams shrugs before turning to me. “Would you like a coffee, Lyric?”

“I would love one. Thank you.” I smile politely. I can't stand coffee but it's fun fucking with the big man. Williams smiles at me but nods to the paper. “It’s a good school. I went there after I started showing. It helped a lot.”

“Showing?” I ask and regret it immediately as his smile widens with long sharp teeth and his eyes flash a terrifying yellow.

“What the shit? What the hell are you?” I shout stumbling back over my chair. I mean, I know mom and I are a bit different but I can’t do whatever that is! I just hide in my bottle!

Both men look wide-eyed at me like I'm doing the weird shit.

“Lyric. It’s ok. I’m a shifter. It’s ok.” Williams reassures me. That gives me more questions than answers though. Thankfully, Connell gets it.

“You don’t know about any of this do you?” He asks. I look between them trying to shove myself further into the corner. “Fuck.” That is an accurate assessment.

“But you’re seventeen! You should already be showing powers.” Williams protests.

“I know I'm a bit different and I know my mom was too but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I offer. I want to go back to my bottle.

“What makes you think you’re different?” Connell tries.

“You first,” I demand. I’m not handing out my secrets for free.

“I’m a gargoyle. I’m also the head of security and a recruiter for Havenswood. My skin turns to stone and I'm impervious to most damage when shifted.” He explains.

“A gargoyle? Like on churches?” I ask. He nods with another odd smile. “Dude.”

“Williams is a wolf shifter. He turns into a wolf.”

“Double dude.” I gasp looking over to the chunky cop imagining his teeth again. That lines up. “I just have a bottle I can hide in. I can’t do anything like that.”

“Ok, so you have your bottle. That’s good. It might just be that you haven’t needed your powers yet.” Williams offers. I call bullshit on that theory. I can think of several times that changing into a wolf or having impenetrable skin would have come in handy just this week.

“What kind of powers should I be expecting?” I ask stepping away from the corner slowly. Mom couldn’t do anything like that.

“It kind of depends on what kind of djinn you are. Some are elemental which means they have an element they wield.” Like Avatar! That would be cool. “some are more… abstract. Like wishes, or luck.”

Damn, I know my mom was a wish djinn. Dad had way too much control over her. I know she warned me about giving my heart to the wrong person too. It didn’t make any sense at the time since I was ten when she died. Maybe these guys know. They know a lot more than I do it seems.

“My mom warned me about some things that didn’t really make sense before she died,” I murmur carefully but I see them understand what I'm talking about.

“Yes. Well, djinn are very powerful beings so they have a big weakness too.” Williams explains. “If the djinn falls in love that person has the means to… enslave them.” Enslave?!

My mind reels with memories of my parents and so much makes sense now. My mom would do anything for my father. Anything at all. Pure devotion and he took advantage of it. Hard. Nothing she did was ever enough. The money, the stuff, me, her. Never enough, he always wanted more. I hope I’m not a wish djinn.

“It doesn't happen all the time but supes are still human… mostly. They still have vices and sometimes they lack self-control and awareness of other people.” Williams explains. I nod my understanding. I know people only too well.

“So? What do you say?” Connell asks apparently done with the information session. I look carefully at the letterhead.

“I still don’t have money for this.” I remind them.

“You have scholarships available to you,” Connell explains.

“Well, I guess I’d be some kind of stupid to not at least give it a shot.” I shrug. Connell looks pleased. Williams looks relieved as he makes his way out the door. He calls over his shoulder.

“Connell, I want half your commission for this one!” making me and Connell laugh.