Putting the Pieces Together

The new day began with new hopes and new plans for a fabulous century ahead for Skylar. Little did she know it was going to be a super disturbing and perplexing one for her.

As she woke up around 8 am in her lavish suite, after a somewhat disturbed sleep, she thought it was okay as she was just back after sleeping for a stupendous half a century. Who would expect her to wake up and fall asleep again.

She started her day with a royal breakfast in bed. As mentioned earlier, Skylar was the descendent of the Proailurus Lemanensis which is the lion bloodline. She belonged to the royal echelon of the superworld. Not much has been mentioned about her parents in the history curriculum of the superworld. Skylar never shared any information about her parents even to her closest of friends over the centuries. Some were dead and some still walking and talking who were on their way to welcome her back. The reason behind the sudden demise of Skylar’s parents was unknown. It was only her grandmother, Elizabeth Lindale, who was talked about, and she was known to be dangerously powerful with a wicked personality who loathed the Lindales. Not even Skylar knew where she was hiding or if she was even alive, and she couldn’t care less.

Skylar finished her morning rituals and began to plan for the day. After a while, she heard a knock on her door. Even before she could reach the door, it opened on its own, ushering in Lucy Rayez, Skylar’s old witch friend from the 1700s. Lucy and Skylar rejoiced as they met each other after so many years. Skylar greeted her by saying, “Finally, something reminded you of me, dearest Lucy, I didn’t expect you to be here huh!”

“Enough of sarcasm now, will you stop! I’m here now. Let’s make these upcoming centuries memorable. Well, you missed the rest of the 1970’s action when you went off to bed.”

“Well going to bed was also important. If I wouldn’t have, I would have aged.” Skylar reasoned.

“You are living the eternal living life that people long for, for a small price.” Lucy added wryly that hint of sarcasm again back in her voice.

“Small price … I’m sorry … what? You witches and warlocks don’t have to sleep. You can just simply do your hocus pocus and tadaaaaa … and you are all set. Vampires do not have to sleep either, be it day or night.”

“Well Skylar dear, we witches and warlocks can die, but not soon. Vampires can be killed, and werewolves have a normal human life span. On the contrary, you will thrive forever till the end of days, and please stop sulking will you! You are no saint either. You too use magic to shorten your sleep. The other tribrids don’t even have that choice. You shortened your sleep from over two centuries to 50 years! What else do you need!” Lucy said with a raised eyebrow.

“All the other tribrids are everything but witches, that’s what makes me stronger and better. But whatever you may say, it is sort of a curse prevailing on us tribrids. Sometimes I feel bad for Alexis and Sheila.” Skylar added with a heavy sigh, “Not to mention my misfortune to have someone like Elizabeth Lindale as my grandmother. Even till the end of this sinful world, she won’t open her mouth if it’s of any assistance to me. She left her family for some unknown reasons and even after her son’s death, she left her grandchild, a mere kid then, all alone and helpless. I mean, who does that Luc!” Skylar gushed with a lot of distress and agony.

Lucy patted her back gently to calm her down and told her to get past the drama and enjoy her coming back to the land of the living.

Well not exactly the land of the living!

Vampires are basically corpses who can walk, talk, and feast as well … on blood.

They started to make plans for shopping as they had to keep pace with the changing times. Skylar then remembered someone too close to her heart. Lucy tried to console Skylar by telling her, “She is gone now, she is at peace. It’s better for you to move on as well. Let go of her, you have me forever Skylar, till the end of days.” Skylar wiped her tear-filled eyes and took a deep breath as if her guilt was eating her up.

Lucy gave Skylar a new phone to catch up with the changing era and technology and planned to meet her at her place at 5 pm. They would then go shopping and fine dining. Lucy left Skylar’s apartment and headed to the common arena of the superworld. The common arena is a place between the human and the superworlds. The part where the superworld and human world merges but is invisible to the humans. The supernaturals don’t usually venture around in this area because it is a highly dangerous and creepy area, to be honest.

Lucy then heard someone calling for her. It was Bree.

“Sister Lucy, wait, listen to me …”

Bree and Lucy are witch sisters, close cousins. Bree left her friends, Aiden, Kayle, Kol, and Riley and rushed off to meet Lucy. Lucy waited for her and then gave her a tight hug. Bree asked her where she had been for so many years and that she missed her very much. Lucy expressed equal joy having met Bree.

They both then settled in at a nearby table. Lucy enquired about Bree and her education, and about the new spells that she has learned. Seated on an adjoining table, Aiden asked if she was the same Lucy Rayez who used to hang out with them when they were little kids.

Kayle replied, “Yes, she is the same Lucy. And guys guess what! From all that I had studied about Skylar, she is one of her best friends and one of the most trusted ones.”

“Lucy Rayez was also born in the 1660s.”

Kol then hopefully added that Lucy might know the details of the destruction of 1700 and the civil code. Riley then hurriedly chipped in, “No, no, there is absolutely no way that Lucy might be knowing about the wars of 1700, because if she knew then Bree would have at least known something.” Kol wanted to know if Bree was hiding some information from them. Aiden defensively said that it’s not wise to think that way. They all have known each other their whole life. The least they could do is to trust and confide in each other.

Lucy and Bree finally bade goodbye to each other as Lucy was in a hurry to catch up with Skylar. Bree went back to the table with her friends. They filled her in with their thoughts. Riley asked her if she could try to convince Lucy and ask her about the wars of 1700. At first, Bree was reluctant; what if she gets offended.

Bree was somewhat scared of Lucy. “It’s a very sensitive topic, R.” Riley then asked a bit suspiciously, “How do you know it’s something sensitive Bree? Are you hiding something from us?” Bree was upset to see her friends suspecting her of holding information.

“Do you think I’m hiding something,” Bree lashed out and left abruptly. Kayle tried to stop her, but she needed some time alone. Kayle came up with the idea of asking Lucy about it in the form of an educational assignment that would clear all chances of offending her. Everyone agreed but were skeptical about the results.

Aiden instructed others to eavesdrop, if necessary, on even the minutest details if Lucy shares them with anyone. Aiden made sure to ask her and requested that it would be perfect if they could convince Skylar to meet up with them so that they can themselves clear their queries from her and get some clarity on the subject.

In the neighboring realm, Jade had turned 18 and her parents decided to gift her something special. For that, they decided to sit together at tea. Jade was very excited to receive whatever her parents had got for her. She was not expecting something too fanciful or extravagant.

At around 6 pm, Jade went to the kitchen and sat on the wooden stool next to her mother who was preparing tea. Jade’s father informed her that her grandparents are planning to visit her next week. Jade was happy to hear it, “I’m looking forward to meeting them. It has been a long time since we met.”

Sydney was done with preparing tea and served it with biscuits. The three sat on the couch. Michael took out a small blue velvet box from his jeans pocket and opened it. Jade was overwhelmed to see an exquisite piece of jewelry inside it. Sydney cautiously took out the ancient family heirloom which was to be given to every twentieth generation of Harris’s firstborn daughter. Jade was confounded and stammered, “Twenty generations! Th-that’s a lot,” Michael laughed and added, “Ah! I know dear, but what can we do … these are some rules made by our ancestors and all we can do is to abide by them.” He looked at his daughter fondly who was gradually turning into a young woman.

Sydney carefully took it out of the box and tied it on Jade’s neck. It was an exquisitely beautiful necklace. It had a symbolic hand carved on it. There were minute writings on it as well. At its back there were two stones in a unique formation. Jade loved it. Jade asked her parents about the pattern on the necklace, but they seemed to ignore her question and simply asked her if she liked it. Jade replied she did.

Jade then told her lightly, “You must find an heirloom for June as well otherwise she will create a ruckus in the house and start a movement against gifts for the firstborns.” Sydney scowled and made a face. Jade’s parents got a few gifts for June as well but unfortunately not as precious or interesting as an heirloom.

Jade felt blessed and was extremely grateful to her parents for the priceless inheritance.

After some time, Jade left her house to go to Emily’s. She had decided to wear her necklace and embrace it as a part of her persona. The friendly neighbor, Mrs. Greshman, complimented her for the shiny jewelry.

Jade soon reached Emily’s, and they went up straight to Emily’s bedroom. It had beautiful lavender walls and was decorated with photographs. They settled comfortably on the bed. Emily lay down and looked at Jade and immediately noticed her new neckpiece and was curious. As she stretched her hands to touch it, Jade smacked her lightly on her hand. She told her that it was some sort of a family heirloom and that it must be gifted to the twentieth-generation, first-born daughter.

Emily raised her eyebrows in awe and asked her how much she knows about her ancestors. Jade told her that surprisingly she doesn’t know much about them. It was the first time ever that her parents have brought up the subject.

“I haven’t seen any of their photos. I have just seen my grandfather, that’s all,” Jade said.

“Did you even ask about the first born of the previous twentieth generation?” Emily questioned her curiously.

Jade’s face showed that she didn’t, her lame apologetic smile said all.

Emily shook her head, “You, Jade Harris, are very naïve.”

She then told her that it could be that this family heirloom has some sort of connection to Aiden’s mysteries. Jade considered the possibility and said that she will be asking her grandparents about their ancestry. That consoled Emily a bit.

Jade told her about the piece of two stones that seemed to have a disturbing impact on her mind. But she couldn’t understand why. She wanted Emily to have a look at it too. Emily saw it and told her that nothing seems to be wrong about it and it was just two green colored stones sort of intertwined. But she was curious as to why those two beautiful stones were on the back of the necklace. They would then be hidden away from the eyesight. Jade shook her head in agreement and asked Emily, “Do you have any idea which stone it is?”

Emily did not know but they decided to find out. They started to surf online for information on green colored gems, after some research and a bit of help from the local gemstone store owner, they found out that it was JADE. Jade was confused at the honest coincidence. Or was there a reason why she was named Jade! Emily further told Jade that Jade is an ornamental mineral and shares the same composition as the precious jewel — EMERALD — it was a gemstone. They both were green colored and alluringly gorgeous. Emily asked if Jade had ever heard her parents discuss ‘Emerald’? Jade did not.

They were done with the day’s digging, and it was time for them to go and meet someone. Jade straightaway refused to meet Raven.

Raven Glendale is another childhood friend of Emily and Jade who was not in town for Jade’s 18th birthday and so Jade was furious with her. To clear the air, Emily decided to take Jade to the mall where Raven could meet them. It took a lot of time and patience to convince Jade, but finally she agreed. Jade took the necklace and wore it back. She asked Emily to help her put it on. Also, they both decided not to tell Raven anything about the unsolved mysteries before they figured out anything further.

Jade was looking smart in her overcoat and shoes. Emily quickly donned a fancy jacket, applied some pink gloss and some mascara and then they started off. In about 15–20 minutes they reached the mall. Emily informed Raven that they had reached. Raven had landed in New York and was coming straight from the airport to meet Jade as she couldn’t afford to annoy Jade further. After all, they were really close.

On the other hand, Lucy and Skylar too prepared for their tour of the twenty-first century.

Lucy brought a few outfits from her wardrobe so that Skylar gets a fashion sense of what’s in. But that wasn’t really necessary as Skylar had already hired the top fashion designer and a dresser for herself. Lucy met Skylar and she was quite impressed with how well she had adjusted to the brand-new modern century. For the day tour, Skylar was dressed appropriately in a cropped tee and boyfriend jeans. She had specially had her hair curled in beach waves, and Lucy had to admit it suited her very well.

“Sky I must say I’m impressed, and you look amazing. You are a true fashionista.” Skylar responded with a blush, “The twenty-first-century fashion includes more revealing clothes. I liked the 1920s better — the fashion, food, jazz, and chilled air without this modern-day constant rat race to stay ahead in everything.”

Then they hurried off.

As soon as Skylar stepped out of her suite, she had the whole supernatural realm to gasp and ogle at her. She was a fire on ice and her streak of purple-brown mane made her stand out in a crowd. She had this since the day she was born. To give Skylar a better idea of the real world they travelled first to the human realm. After reaching the human world, they took a cab there to get to the closest mall.

The supernatural realm was just a place where supernatural creatures could live safely and have routine meetings and operational tasks but, in the end, their actual world to explore and travel was the human world as the supernatural bloodline is formed primarily out of the human bloodline.

Aiden, on the other hand, enquired from Kayle about the demon attacks as they had not heard of any since Skylar had arrived. Kayle then assured him that they didn’t happen, it was like they have just disappeared in the air. They didn’t know what to think, whether it was a matter of relief or concern. Everyone then suggested that Aiden should keep an eye on Jade as the demon first went after Jade who was seemingly a human.

… well … most probably!

Skylar really liked the commercial taxi ride across a busy modern century city, and she praised the driving skills of the taxi driver happily. She tipped him generously at the end of the ride … so much that he might not have to work anymore for the rest of his life. She was still adjusting to everything around her. She admired the fact that everything around them was not so formal or fanciful: noblemen, clergy, ‘madam’, ‘monsieur’ culture, but only a generic he/she way of life. She felt it was a step ahead towards equality for all and felt that this century will be better than the previous ones. She was looking forward to having a pleasant time.

Lucy and Skylar then entered the famous Trinity mall. Coincidentally, Jade, Raven, and Emily were also there. Emily and Jade had already reached the mall and had met Raven there. Raven got Jade a handful of gifts for her birthday to make up for her absence on the day of her celebrations. Though Jade initially showed some stubbornness, the warmth and love of Raven and the convincing power of Emily worked wonders and they shared a loving group hug. At that moment, Skylar noticed the three of them and told Lucy that the three of them resemble their trio — Skylar, Lucy and Her.

Jade’s back was towards Skylar so she wasn’t able to see her. But Raven saw her and commented that her hair looked ‘dope’ and that she might have to go out of town again to get something like that done to her own hair. Jade then glared at her when she mentioned moving out of town again. Raven assured it was just a joke and that she is going nowhere.

Lucy and Skylar then became nostalgic thinking about the old times and how good they were all together. Skylar told with a sigh, “The glorious days of today would have been so much more beautiful if she were here with me and you. I couldn’t save her, Lucy, she asked for my help, but I wasn’t enough.” Skylar’s anguish was apparent.

Lucy told her that it wasn’t their fault. The potency of the magic was strong and they were just not enough to handle it or save the situation. She felt it would be wise to simply accept it and cherish the memories of her. Skylar was not convinced, “There is always a way out, Lucy, I feel we just didn’t try hard enough …” Her voice trailed away.

Aiden on the other hand tried to track Jade from her ring that she had dropped the night she had gone alone to the alleyway to find answers. He actually tracked her successfully using that. The protectors had this one power besides the innate fighting skills and superior mental abilities that they inherit. They are powered to analyze things faster, hear, and smell things even if that is less or minimally felt. He went to the Trinity mall looking for Jade but this time he was not camouflaged or invisible. He had decided to meet Jade if she saw him. At the mall, Skylar and Lucy went to grab some coffee. Skylar ordered a caramel-loaded cold coffee. Lucy took a mocha cookie crumb.

After drinking and conversing over their coffee, they both decided to visit a few stores for shopping. They both then entered various shops with an eye for branded clothes. Skylar started to have a look at the sling bags and backpacks displayed in a shop. She always had a fetish for bags since the 1920s. She had collected over 1000 of the most expensive and fashionable bags of all time. She also explored the heels there. Lucy was not much into all of this, “OMG! Was it a good idea to get you to the mall after all!”

“Yes, it was Lucy. I’m going to stroll around them all day long, who knows I might buy the mall.” They both had a good laugh as if two teenagers met after a long time.

Aiden was secretly keeping an eye on Jade and her friends. They soon decided to go shopping and Aiden followed them. As Lucy went out of the store, she saw Aiden and asked him what he was doing there. He replied, nothing in particular. He was just there to pass time. Lucy caught his lie and told him to spill the truth. But he didn’t speak a word. But she realized that he was following a group of girls. Luckily, Jade’s back was towards her, so she couldn’t see her face.

Lucy advised him to go invisible in case he wants to stalk a human girl.

“I don’t want you to get beaten up by a bunch of high school teens,” Aiden laughed it off and said, “Ya me too.”

They then started to chat about other random things. And in the process, Aiden realized that he had lost Jade and had to start looking for her again. On the other hand, Skylar was alone at the store. She decided to check the adjacent store’s collection and left the previous one. As soon as she left the store she bumped into Jade. As Jade hurriedly said sorry and moved forward along with her friends, Skylar was dumbfounded. Her lips could just mouth the word Em …!

“This can’t be, oh my lord! No … no … no … it’s all some sort of Lucy’s magic tricks to make me feel better or I might be hallucinating.” Skylar then went towards Jade. Using her magic, she chanted some words ‘in capillum’. A simple spell to put/attach something in Jade’s hair. She then went towards her and said, “Hello ma’am, I’m Sam, there is something entangled in your hair if you don’t mind, I’ll remove it.”

Jade stuttered and replied. “Oh! Thank you so much for telling me, go ahead please.” As soon as Skylar lifted Jade’s hair, she saw the back of the necklace and its imprints. She put down her hair and asked her name.

“I’m Jade, nice to meet you,” said Jade. Raven then complimented Skylar on her outfit. Skylar smiled and exited the scene as if there was a bomb planted there.

Emily thought it to be very weird of her to come to them. Also, just a minute ago there was absolutely nothing in Jade’s hair. Jade told Emily to chill and that she was just being helpful.

Skylar went looking for Lucy. She found her with Aiden and told her to listen to her carefully and that it was urgent. Aiden then said, ‘I don’t mean to intrude but you are Skylar right. It’s so nice to meet you.’

Skylar hurriedly replied, “Yes, same here, but unfortunately it’s not a suitable time right now and you should leave.” Aiden uncomfortably said, “Okay.” Lucy asked Skylar about her rudeness. She said abruptly, “It’s her, she’s back,” with both eyebrows raised.

Lucy asked in a very confused manner, “Who’s back Skylar?”

“Emerald … Emerald’s back.” Skylar said with a mix of anguish and alarm clearly written on her visage!