Happy Wednesday! Look out for the <>!

Grayson POV

I ran down the road as I got my dagger ready to strike. I knew what I saw on that school sidewalk, but my mind was elsewhere. Stella ran through my mind like an armed robbery, taking all other thoughts hostage. Stella was getting too close and as much as I liked it, it wasn't safe for her. I had to pull back, she would only get hurt if I didn't. Humans weren't meant to live in the Churchwell Realm or be around creatures from that realm, and I for sure didn't belong here.

We were too different, like oil and water, and we would never work. But the facts didn't stop me from thinking about the what ifs of what could be. However, her perfume and her dress were still on my mind. I don't think I would ever forget the way she looked tonight or the way she held me as we danced. It took all I had to keep it together and not tell her my feelings tonight.

Breaking me from my thoughts was when I saw the shadowy figure running across a field from me. In a way, I was glad a Darkling made its appearance when it did because otherwise, I would have said too much to her. I probably had already said too much to her. She didn't need to know half the things I told her, but I couldn't help myself from spilling my guts to her.

I heard the Darkling growl and tightened my grip on my dagger. This time I would be ready to stop the Darkling, I would be ready for it. But as I ran closer to where I first saw the figure in the field, I saw no signs of it. My mind went to a dark place as I frantically I looked around myself. I needed to kill it before it caused damage to this world and people saw it. Or maybe it was preparing to attack me, waiting for me to let down the guard.

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It was so foggy in the field; it caused me to squint, hoping that I would see anything better, but I could not even make out shapes at this moment. I took a deep breath as I tried to calm my nerves, but I knew deep down that I wasn't ready for what came out of this fog. It was times like this when I wished I was just human, blissfully unaware of the dangers that the world really had.

"Hey Grayson," a familiar voice rang out.

My grip on my dagger tighten as I came to the realization of who was talking to me. I hadn't heard his voice in years, but I don't think I would ever forget it. How could I forget my own father's voice?

Out of the fog came my father, standing in front of me, looking almost the same as the day he left me. It was like seeing a ghost and it caused me to take a step back. I thought I would never see him again. Everyone said that once he turned, he died shortly after. I believed the Darklings killed him, but the smile he gave me confirmed he wasn't dead at all. My father, the traitor to the Churchwell Realm, had finally come back.

"It's been a while," he said calmly as he took another step closer to me.

That statement was reserved for friends or people you hadn't seen in a month or two, but he left me years ago. As heartless as that was, he didn't have the right to talk so casually to me. "It's been years," I corrected him as I looked at him from head to toe to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"It has. But time has been kind to you."

Shaking my head, I didn't want any of these pleasantries. I wanted facts. If he was showing his face, there was a reason for this. "Where have you been? Everyone said you died."

He shrugged as he took a step closer to me, allowing me to see him better under the light of the moon and stars. As much as I wanted to keep my distance, him standing so close allowed me to see every detail about him. I looked a lot like him as I got older, as much as I hated to admit that.

My eyes fell on his right hand which was blackened like cracked coal. I knew Darkling attacks turned black like that, but once the person was healed, the skin went back to normal. It made me wonder what happened to him or if a Darkling attacked him recently.

"Can't I just miss my son?"

I shook my head as my attention turned back to what he was telling me. That was a lie and both of us knew that. I was more of an inconvenience to him, that much of a memory was clearly in my mind.

"You never missed me." Even when he was around, I hardly saw him. He was always off at war or at meetings. I was more of an afterthought than a son. So no, he didn't want to see me after all these years and shoot the breeze. He wasn't here for pleasantries. He was here for me, for some reason, but for that reason I didn't know. Fear swelled within me as I gripped my dagger tighter, ready for anything.

Dad looked at me, then frowned at the dagger as if not liking that I held it in my hand. "Is that what Else told you? What other lies had she been telling you?"

I shut my mouth, not wanting to fuel any fire he had against Else, who was nothing but kind to me. I knew she lied to me; she did it often, but I think she had a good reason for it. Over all, I trusted Else; I called her mom. She looked out for me more than anyone else had done before, more than my father ever day. The man in front of me was hardly a father and had no right judging who raised me. "At least she was there for me, unlike you."

"Don't you dare talk to me like that," he said as he lifted his blackened hand as blue sparks came from it.

I took a step back as I remembered the last time I had to fight my father. I woke up in a bed three days later with broken bones and a concussion. But what I feared the most was what his hand did. Never had my father done something like that with his hands. He was a gate keeper like me; we didn't have that kind of power. Element power was reserved for some of the other magical creatures in Churchwell.

His hand stopped sparking as he held it in the moonlight, allowing me to see it better. "I know, it is a bit of a shock, isn't it?" he asked as he looked at his black hand.

"What happened?" I asked, unable to hold the question from my mind.

"It's it obvious? Darklings attacked me years ago. But I overcame the attack, crushing them in my wake. I just have this scar to remind me what I lived through."

"People thought you died from that attack," I stated, remembering the stories told about it.

"That's what they wanted to believe."

"I believed it," I said, then sighed as I realized he wasn't here to attack me. My father was evil, but he wasn't here to kill me, he needed me for something. My guard relaxed as I brought my dagger down. "What are you here for?"

"I'm just here to check in with you. You have to be almost 18 now. You are at the crossroads of the start of your life. Tell me, have you been training at Churchwell academy?"

I shook my head as I thought about all the times I tried to start. I was years behind any other student there and I would have a lot to catch up on.

"Of course you aren't. You know why they aren't training you properly? Because they are afraid. And are they trying to keep you away from humans?"

I nodded. It was as if he spoke from experience. It made me wonder if he was the one that caused these rules to start.

"They want to control you. You don't know the power you have. You are my son and they are scared of that. They want to control you to be their perfect soldier."

I think they just wanted me to melt into nothing. They didn't want me as a soldier, they wanted me to just be nothing important, ready to vanish at any moment. After all, that was why they sent me to Jackson anyhow, out of mind, out of sight. But one thing was wrong about his statement because they were going to train me. I started next week. As behind as I was, I was going to learn and catch up. "You are wrong. They are going to train me. I am starting next week."

He gave me a smug grin, as if he found it entertaining. "So are they?"

I nodded as the fog circled around us, closing in on us like a shark about to eat fish.

"Grayson, things are about to change, not just for Churchwell. I am here as a courtesy. If you want to be valued and take your rightful title as my son, I am here for you."

And this was what he was here for. He wanted me; he wanted to control me just like Else and all of Churchwell controlled me. I was their pawn in their game of chess. However, I didn't understand why my father was coming to me now though. I was untrained, unskilled, but yet he showed his cards to me. Why? Why was I so important in this?

"I don't want you on the wrong side when arrows start flying."

"I think I am comfortable on the side I currently am on," I said, unmoving.

He nodded with a frown, not happy with my response. "You really think Else and them are the good team? I would highly recommend you read more history books. They are not saints. They never were."

His words caused me to frown. I wanted to call him out, but deep down I knew that there was a possibility that he was right. There was a lot that I didn't know and I knew that there were some secrets that I hadn't learned yet.

"You still have time to think it over. But don't take too much time. I would recommend you might want to change your mind soon."

"I don't think I will."

He smirked, as if he thought it was funny, then took a step back into the fog. "Till next time, Grayson."

I nodded as I remembered the last time he told me that. It was the day he left me and that memory came flying back to me like a yo-yo, hitting me in the face. He wasn't supposed to be long, but little did I know he had no intentions of coming back to me. "Till next time," I said, having no intention of going to see him again.

And with that, he vanished in the fog, leaving me alone to walk back home.

With a frown and a heavy sigh, I turned on my heals then walked towards the road to get home, knowing that Else would not be around until tomorrow to hear my encounter. I wondered if she knew he was alive, but something told me she knew and she had known for a while. The thought caused anger and bitter thoughts to bubble within me like soda. He was my father, didn't I have a right to know if he was alive or not?

My father said they wanted to control me, and that was probably one thing he said that was true. They wanted to control me. Everything they did in my life was about control. But I was almost an adult now and they wouldn't be able to control me for much longer. Soon I would be able to make my own life up.