New Discoveries

Song- "Warrior" by Chloe x Halle

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I clenched my jaw. What did gang bosses look like? Would he have tattoos all over his body too? Would he look like a creepy biker with a gun on his hip? Did he clean his teeth with a knife too?

My palms were sweaty and my heart was hammering in my chest as I slowly opened the door. Maybe this guy was the picture from the Dragon's section in my book?  Or what if he was really old and wrinkly and nasty? Or what if he....?

My thoughts ended abruptly when I opened the door.

It was that guy. That hot guy in the section on Dwarves. The picture definitely did not do him any justice. He wore a business suit and tie and was tall. Very tall. But not as tall as that guy Graham. His hands were folded in front of him over the handle of a duffle bag, and he didn't look like what I pictured a gang boss to look like. He looked more like a business man.

He caught me eye, his piercing blue eyes gazing into mine and I found my face beginning to feel hot and he said, "So this is the writer."

Mr. Ian popped out from behind him and he nearly gave me a heart attack. "Yes, and a very talented one is my Miss Abigail!" He says enthusiastically and the man looked at me then held out a hand. I noticed it was scarred as I shook it. His hand was warm and he had a firm but gentle grip, then he surprised me when he gently turned my hand and kissed the back of it like someone in an old English movie on the BBC channel would do.

When the men snickered behind me I knew my face was most definitely red.

The man smirked then released my hand. "My name is Richard. You, I believe, are Miss Abigail Baggs?"

I nodded.

"Very good. And you have the book, I presume?" He asks. I was shocked at how quiet his voice was. I guess I just expected him to be more like an Al Capone with a heavy New Yorker accent, not this soft airy British one.

He reminded me more of a butler than an evil murderer.

I stepped to the side to let him inside and closed the door. "Yeah. It's right here." I pulled it out of my pocket and now every eye in the room was on me and I felt uncomfortable. Must be an important book. I shut the door and Richard asked,

"I trust you read the whole thing, yes?"

I nodded. "Yes. Cover to cover." I hesitated. "Your picture is in the section on Dwarves. But you're not a dwarf." The men snickered, but Richard didn't seem amused.

"Yes. My picture is in that book. As are a few others as I'm sure you've noticed." He said dryly. "Tell me. What did you learn about the dwarves specifically?"

"That they lived in this mountain and a dragon came and killed them all and took their gold." I said. There was an uncomfortable tension in the room.

Richard nodded slowly. "I see you read it but you didn't pay attention." He gave me a disappointed look and I was sure I flunked this job interview. "Not all of the dwarves were killed. A few survived and moved into mountains in the west. But the dragon remains in the mountain." He says the words as if they personally affected him.

"Yeah...But there's no such thing as dragons." I say. "Or magic or fairies or goblins."

He looked at me with such a dark expression it sent a shiver trough my spine. "They're more real than you think. You just can't see them." He says and then looks to Mr. Ian. "Are you sure she's the one we are looking for, Mr. Ian? It doesn't appear that she has the Sight." He growled.

"The what? I see just fine, thank you." I say defensively and cross my arms over my chest.

"Well, Richard, you see, her parents did." He said and they all looked at me. I clenched my jaw.

"My parents are dead. They won't be much help. But what are you talking about?"

"The ability to see mythical creatures." Aidan explains. "To some people a house cat is a house cat, but to us you have a little chimera in your apartment." He smirked and I knew he was joking.

"Gizmo is a cat, and not anything more than a cat." I say defensively.

"The Sight works differently in all people." Ken says. "Some people see parts of them. Glimpses. Not much t'work on. Some people See. They can see the creatures as their true selves."

"The man in the Dragon's section." I say and they all went quiet. "He had maroon eyes. Humans don't have maroon eyes." The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees and I wrapped my arms around myself a little tighter.

"That is correct, my dear Abigail. Normal humans do not have maroon eyes." Mr. Ian said. "Nor do normal humans have the ability to see things that others cannot. Tell me. When you look at us, what do you see?"

"Uh...a biker gang with guns and knives in my apartment and a little old man." I say blandly.

They all smirked a bit and Mr. Ian said, "Look closer than that, Abigail."

I looked at him strangely then looked over at Dean and Aidan. They stood next to each other and I watched as the gun on Dean's hip turned into a long sword in a sheath, and the machine gun strapped to Aidan's back was replaced with a bow and quiver of arrows. Their hair was shoulder length and Dean had braids in his mustache and hair.

I stumbled back and blinked and rubbed at my eyes and they turned back into the tall biker gang members. I opened my eyes and went to say something then closed my mouth again.

I looked around then they seemed to blur and standing in the room were thirteen dwarves. Yes. Dwarves. Loaded with swords and axes and strange clothing definitely not from this century, let alone this world.

And Mr. Ian.

Mr. Ian was tall, had a pointed hat and gray robes and a staff.

I blinked and the illusions went away.

"Y-You're all Dwarves. And you. You're a wizard." I say and the little old man looks proud.

"See, I told you she was the one, Mr. Durin." He says proudly up at Richard.

Richard looked at me with that same calculating expression on his face. "Yes. She has the Sight. But is she the writer we are looking for?" He asks.

They all looked to me. "Can you write something for us, dear?" Mr. Ian asks. I nodded and went and grabbed my notebook off of the bookshelf in the living room and they stepped aside so I could sit at the table and I paused.

"Anything? Can I write anything or is there something specific you need?"

"Anything." Richard replied and crossed his arms and stared at me. I couldn't help but look at his scarred hands again, then looked away back at my notebook and the blank page.

But before I could put pen to paper, a monster crashed through the door.

Calling it a monster was all I could do. Flickering between a Latino man covered in scars and an ugly dark creature with protruding teeth.

And it was running towards me.

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