SUMMONED

A/N: This chapter and the rest of the story will walk around fine lines and grey areas. Dubious consent, power imbalance, age-related sexual themes, abuse and more. If you are uncomfortable with these themes, please don’t go further.

Long ago, a great war happened. No, not the war you are thinking about. This was the singularity, the merging of the worlds, the rift, the tear, the collapse, World War IV. It has been called a lot of things.

But the boundaries between our worlds tore, the impossible became very possible. And our lives never remained the same.

That hot, sunny day shaped our lives, and not for the better. Our world leaked into the next, and the next leaked into ours, revealing something we never thought possible. A different universe, a different species, beings other than humans, beings more powerful, more evolved in speed, agility, strength and things impossible to comprehend. Beings that wanted human blood for meals, beings that breathed fire and beings that only sort after chaos.

It was chaos, it was madness, it was the end of humanity as we knew it. In a day, everything and everyone was gone. Made into ash, lifeless limbs and bones, bloody messes, crumbled nothings. Within months, everything was gone until the humans raised their flags in surrender. We could not fight back, not even with all the ammunition, weapons and technology. We had been unprepared for what had come, and we lost sixty percent of the human population and there was no recovering from that.

Every species came to an agreement, and peace was promised, but with it came three laws.

One, the bloodlines were to remain unblemished and untainted. No marriages, no children and no bonds between cross-species.

Two, the supernatural would remain the seat of power

Three, fated bonds, mates and ties, have been unsanctioned and prohibited. Death, imprisonment and separation are the punishments for any who breaks this rule. This law is absolute.

The last rule had caused another war. But not as grand, mostly infighting amongst the supernatural that barely anyone heard about or understood. The fated bond was pretty important to them, but the law stood, scarring its own people more than it did the humans who barely understood what fated bonds meant. We simply grieved our loss and cradled our wounds.

For years, the Arcanes, as they were now called, became the seat of power, establishing the six seats. A ruling body compromising of fae, shifters, demons, angels and vampires.

Until the first human awakening.

It’s said that once the universe collapsed into each other, so did the magic in their worlds and it seeped through into ours. That magic altered our genes. Well, not all of us. But some humans started displaying abilities that were never before possible. And that had been the beginning of a new world. A more devastating world. One that sees you as food, garbage or absolutely nothing if no power runs in your blood. A world where blood, power, and name were all that mattered. And those without it, us without it, were forced to live and breathe their garbage.

Thus, the seven seats was born. The humans with powers, now referred to as the awakened, joining the seat of power.

I sighed and shut the book as I turned to the audience that was looking at me. Three empty chairs, a few bottles of cheap, illegal and drug unapproved beer, unwashed plates littered all around dirty tables and dirtier floor. I did add some words and told the story in my own way as I remembered it being told to me by my mother, but an audience would have been much appreciated, anyway. Not like I would have dared do something like this in front of anyone. I was tired, hungry and weak and this was simply a past time for someone like me.

“Nyx…” A boom had me jumping up from where I had been sitting even if that hurt my already injured foot. I quickly cleared the tables as I had been ordered to do thirty minutes ago and ran to the kitchen, ignoring the pain and tiredness I felt. I could fall on my face and not wake up for days, and it wouldn’t do anything anyway. So, I washed them as fast as I could, returned to the diner, cleared the bottles and went ahead to sweep and clean the tables and chairs, not like it mattered. Some vomits, blood and dirt were stuck and would never go away no matter how I tried. And no amount of cleaning would get rid of the stench oozing around the space.

Once I was done, I headed to my boss’ office. As usual, it smelled worse in there. A combination of sweat, piss, vomit, unwashed body and dirt. He was seated behind his desk, his back relaxed and his belly bulging from underneath the dirty torn shirt he wore. Dirty dishes littered his desk, along with papers, documents and stuff he would never look into until I do. I cleared his table while he paid attention to the small TV behind me. A great luxury in these parts. It was scrambled and needed to be hit a couple of times a day before anything visible could show.

Once the dishes were done, I returned to his office and found he was dozing off with his mouth open. I hoped he wouldn’t, not yet at least. And it was probably best I just let him be. It was always best, but five days without food was beginning to cause dizzy spells.

Swallowing hard, I took a step towards him. He snored louder and I jerked and paused. My heart was beating too loud against my ears and everything in me was screaming, ’don’t’ but I needed to eat.

“Hmm hmm hmm.” I cleared my throat anxiously, hoping that it would wake him up, when I already knew better. As expected, he didn’t budge. Taking a deep breath to steady my racing heart, I moved closer, till I was behind his desk and tapped his shoulder. He snored and jumped, and I immediately made my way to the other side of the desk.

“Nyx.” His eyes flared with rage at the disturbance and cold ran down my spine.

“My pay.” I entered quietly, lowering my gaze as I have learnt to do every so often. That didn’t stop the glaring, but at least, he didn’t get up from where he sat this time. He pulled out his drawer fiercely. Dust swooped up from it, and he coughed, waving the dust away from his face before he brought out a few dollar notes and threw them across the table. I frowned, realizing they were fewer than my last pay.

“Things have been hard this time, take that and get out.” He snapped when I didn’t move. I frowned again. It wouldn’t last two days’ meal and leftover scraps was doing nothing.

“But….” I tried to speak.

“Get out, Nyx.” He snapped, stopping my very weak process. I nodded and picked up the notes from the floor. Saying anything would simply push me out of the job, and I couldn’t afford that. It was a shabby-looking place located in the shabbiest part of the human settlement. I did the jobs of the cook, accountant, bar attendant, cleaner and more, yet the job brought very little to feed from. The shabbiest of people came there. Most barely have money to feed. The drunks, gamblers, thieves, cheats, prostitutes and scoundrels come there. But that’s the irony of it. In these parts, everybody was amongst this class of people. And food was a requirement for their survival. It wasn’t like there were any good jobs around here for people like me, except for the obvious. Stealing and prostitution and that was something I couldn’t do.

One, I would be caught, sold or killed in my first attempt. I was not physically agile for that kind of lifestyle. For the second, I did try a few times but fled when my first attempt was a vampire, and the second was a shifter. I was beaten so badly for chasing away a client after said client had ripped through my clothes. I was a whore after all, it didn’t matter how the situation happened. It was a miracle I was able to escape that night. I settled back into my job after I started walking again even if it was the shabbiest one of them all.

Truth is, whether I was starved, beaten, harassed, assaulted or underpaid, quitting would be death. There were people ready to jump at this very job. I could definitely not afford to quit.

Stepping out onto the street of the night, I shivered and wrapped my hand around my body. I lowered my gaze and immediately made my way across the road. Ignoring the voices of men gathered at a corner or women doing all they could to lure anyone they could into their den. I hastened my footsteps the more the voices rose and kept walking around the darker corners to avoid being seen. It was usually harder to do because this was the time the predators usually came out to play. I have escaped them somehow, and I have been saved most nights by the stupidest of things, like my period. Back then, my clothes were already torn and it was over before it began till he perceived the blood. I got a beating instead of being torn into that night. To save myself, I decided to wear stained underwear, or I would intentionally stain the back of my dress with blood from meats, lizards or even my blood. That kept some away and kept me safe for a few days, but I couldn’t keep that up for long. Not when I was being watched and my days were being counted for me. Soon enough, they realized it was a trick and started making their moves again. I remember running that night like my life depended on it, only to fall prey to the more deranged ones. The ones that liked to see the blood of a tiny thing like me. I had been saved again that night but in exchange I had to offer myself. Maybe that very act had saved me from the predators all these years but some nights I could feel them watching and I know, one of these days, they wouldn’t just stand by and let me roam free anymore.

The night was cold and windy, making my teeth chatter. My dress did nothing to shield me. It was one of the five I had, and it was torn at the hem and stitched in the middle. It was old and worn out and would fall apart soon. But at least I had a dress on.

The voices grew louder and louder the more I walked, making me lift my head to see that I had passed the more terrible side of the human settlement. The ruins here were just as bad. But at least some could offer shelter and privacy with the help of homemade constructed fabric. The other side offered more stone and debris than ruined buildings. However, the population and crime rate in these parts were a lot more than where I was coming from. People here were hungry and dying just like I was, but they had better jobs, better clothes and the arcanes sometimes came around these parts for fun or evil alike. It provided people with what to steal and who to sell from.

“Hey beautiful…” Someone whistled, and I immediately took to my heels, knowing they wouldn’t stop and would likely follow me if I didn’t. If I were stopped and dragged away, no one was going to come to my aid even if I screamed. Not that they didn’t know what was happening, but no one cared enough and everyone would protect themselves first.

I cut through a corner and stiffened at the sight of a girl lying lifeless beside the gutter. I swallowed back the vomit in my throat and forced myself to move forward like I saw nothing. It wasn’t the first. And it wouldn’t be the last. I got onto the main road. Lights flickered on and off, and the buzz of people going to and fro only increased. No one ever truly slept in these parts.

Getting to the motel, I paused and gave myself time to breathe before I walked in to find Madam Celine scowling.

“You are late.” She snapped the moment I walked in, and I instantly lowered my gaze.

“Sorry, my b….”

“I don’t care for your excuses, get in, he has been waiting.” She interrupted, and I immediately rushed past her. Moans, groans, laughter and screams followed me as I made my way across the hall to the very last room. I paused, took a deep breath in and allowed the warmth of the motel to sip into my bones. But the sounds only grew louder, and a pounding joined in. It was a better place than most. With good roofing, rooms, warmth, warm beds, drinks and whores to bring anyone to their dream for a cheap fee. But every time I went in there, all I thought about was running out. Ignoring the cold that had my body stiff, I lifted my hand to the door, but his deep voice cut through the walls separating us like poison.

“Come in, Nyx.”

I took a deep breath, but that only just left my shoulder tense. And breathing only left things to crawl under my skin. I knew it wouldn’t stop until I left, it was always like this. Stilling my heart, I pushed the door open and found Magnus sitting on the bed, back against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of him. One crossed against the other. He was dressed simply to blend in, but he still looked out of place.

He smiled wide, big, beautiful. His red eyes gleaming, his fangs out. I shut the door behind me and stood rooted to the spot. My heart began racing inside my chest. And it only made him smile wider.

“You are late.”

I nodded my head, unable to force myself to speak.

“Your other jobs can’t keep you from this one, Nyx. You know the rules.”

“Ye..yes. I’m sorry.” I forced out of my throat. He nodded his head towards the bathroom. I cringed, hating the idea of being in there. It was a luxury to use a private bathroom in such a place. But that would require taking off my clothes and being naked in front of a full-blooded vampire was suicide. Not to add to the other customers around here.

“Move it, Nyx. Wash the dirt off your skin,” he ordered, leaving no room for refute and I knew I had no other option than to go right in.

The tension in my shoulder didn’t let me remain in the bathroom for as long as I would honestly like to. But before I would put on my clothes again, the door was slammed and those red eyes fell on me. I froze, unable to scream or fight. After he saved me that night, he had been collecting his debt in blood. But I feared for when that would no longer be enough. Because I knew it never would be. Not with that look in his eyes.

“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the bed. One moment, I was standing in the bathroom and the next, I was on the bed and he was on me, my legs parted.

“I’ve waited too long.”

I shook my head, feeling myself tremble against him, yet unable to say the words that would make him stop.

“Shhhh…” His hand rested on my waist. I stopped breathing. Something he didn’t mind, but his hands trailed up higher, the coldness of his touch a stark contrast to my body’s temperature, leaving goosebumps in their wake. A shudder passed through me, allowing me to breathe.

“Just like that, like always,” he whispered, leaning down until his cheek was pressed against mine. He trailed down lower, placing his palm flat on my stomach. The pit of my stomach clenched, and my fear was replaced by something else. Something I was always ashamed to name.

“Just like that, sweet, sweet Nyx.” He breathed in, long and I found myself getting dizzy, with his every inhale.

Then his fang pierced flesh, and I felt my blood leaving me.

Hopefully, this will cover my short pay. Just another job. I wonder what else I would have to sell?