Chapter 1

Maybell Smith

Mythicals- A rare bloodline that people inherit from God, Dalion, that he personally blessed with the ancient dragon spirit. It is given to those who have been close enough to touch the white veil. Although this information is well known, mythicals are still a mystery to the rest of civilization, if encountered, don’t stare into its gaze.  

HM, what bullshit. Slamming the book, I huff before pushing it away from me and stare at it while it joins the other books on the floor. I stand and stretch my legs that have been sitting under me for the past 2 hours. This library might be helpful at times, but comfort is definitely not one of its strong suites. 

Looking toward the entrance, I debate on breaking the promise I made Paison, and go out and get food by myself. Right as I think that, the devil himself walks in like he owns the damn place. Turning towards him, I get ready to scold him when I notice the face he is making.  I almost think it’s a face he makes when he is constipated, but his eyebrows are a little too high on his forehead for him to be plugged up. Getting ready to ask what’s wrong he beats me to and starts talking as fast as the speed of light. 

“Whoa, Whoa, hold up, you're not making any sense. Try talking a little slower, please.” 

“Hold up, let me catch my breath.” Bending over, he puts his hands on his knees, and starts to fight the wheezing, as he tries to get air into his lungs. Looking back at me, a smile breaks out and he says in the most obnoxious way possible. 

“I bumped into the cutest guy coming out of Flora’s Coffee, I want to talk to him before you go in for your shift.” Letting the air I was unknowingly keeping in my lungs, I give him the most irritated look and place my hands on my hips. 

“I thought you were dying or something, don’t scare me like that. For that, I am thinking about saying no, but I really am in the mood for some good coffee.” Gathering up my stuff that I scattered across the floor in my attempt to learn more about this mythical nonsense, I haul my computer bag over my shoulder, and pull the hat that I always wear down over my blueish, greenish eyes. I make a signal for him to go first, while I think about why someone would want to date him. Although looking at myself I could say the same.  

My long, light brown hair stops right before the curve of my butt, and can’t make up its mind most of the time. One day it waves out, and the next it is as straight as a tree. While he rests right on the top of his head, he seems to never have a bad hair day. Our eyes are the only thing that we have going for us. They make a marble effect with the colors, blue and green.   The only thing that is different between us is the mark that I carry on my ribcage. All the books say that this one God created us as a blessing to humanity. Honestly, I think it’s a bunch of hocus pocus. 

Walking across the street, I open the door to the coffee shop when I'm blasted with warm air that smells exactly like home, you know, if I had one. Walking to one of the tables, Mason pulls out a chair that drags all the way back, and makes a sound that makes me want to shrivel up. I sit my butt down and sigh because of how comfortable these chairs are. Sitting in the library for a long period of time made my butt numb by this point. Looking around, I noticed the guy Mason thought was cute. And my jaw drops. 

This wasn’t a guy, this was a freaking giant. But, I have to admit, he is hot. With his jet black hair that reaches just above his shoulder, I'm pretty sure he could be a model for a shampoo corporation. I wonder what kind he uses. When he turned around the first thing that struck me was the bright red eyes. They seem to burn brighter when he looks at Mason, which he is doing a lot. I look over to Paison and see that he is trying so hard not to look, but his gaze keeps wandering back to the mysterious man in the corner. 

Making my way to the counter, I brush past the giant but don’t say anything because this is Mason’s game to play, and I'm not interested in joining. I look over and groan at the sight of the barista that is working today. I tend to see her a lot here. Giving me a bright smile, I want to tell her that there is something in her teeth, but that would be rude.  

“Hi there, what can I get for you?” Cringing a little at her voice, I raise my head and look her in the eye. 

“One Hot chocolate, and a Vanilla Latte please.” Giving her a smile, I walk over to the place that says pickup and wait for her to make my drink. 

“Your Maybell right?” Startled at my name, I looked up and gave her a tight lipped smile. “Yep, that's me.” Trying to end the conversation, I looked down at the ancient, dinosaur phone trapped in my hand. Apparently, she didn’t get the memo, because she just keeps on talking as if i wasn’t trying to ignore the shit out of her.  

“I’ve seen you around and wanted to talk to you, but I'm kind of shy, and I don’t think people like talking to me because of how I look. Shoot I'm rambling, aren’t I, sorry, your order will be right out.”  Right at that moment, something happened. I’m thrown back into my memories of the multiple group homes that Mason and I would end up at. I know exactly what she is talking about because that happened to me more times than I would to admit. At that moment, i'm angry at all the people that had the audacity to make this beautiful girl self conscious because of her personality. 

“No, I enjoyed hearing you talk. Rambling is something that you and I have in common. Sometimes I don't know when to shut up either.” Giving her my best smile I take the drinks from her hand and turn to walk away, when I suddenly stop in my tracks. I shouldn't do this because of who I am, but who listens to the rules anyway? 

“Do you want to exchange numbers? I can tell that we would make epic friends.” Totally talking like I didn’t try to ignore her for the past minute.

“I would love that, I don’t have many friends, well actually, I don’t have any. I would love to have one.” Exchanging numbers, we part ways with promises that we will text whenever we have the chance. I head back to the table, when I stop dead in my boots. There, sitting in the spot I was in a minute ago, is the giant man that Paison was fawning over. He is sitting with his back toward the door, and I suddenly feel like he is somehow not allowing us to escape. Anxiety creeps into my body, and I desperately now need to get my brother out of the palace that suddenly became too small to handle.  

Walking over, I try my best not to look nervous, and sit in the chair right next to my brother. 

“Hey, this is Oliver.” My twin says turning to face me. 

Waving uselessly, I try my best to show how tough I think I am inside, but end up failing when he moves his gaze toward me. When he does, piercing red eyes lock on mine, it feels like the whole world came crumbling down because in that moment I knew in my bones that he would have a mark that would somewhat resemble the same one on my ribcage.  

He gives me a look that says he knows exactly what I am internally debating. “Hi, we were just talking about you. Seems you guys are really close.” Giving Paison a look to shut the hell up, I look back to the red eyes that now freak me out. 

“It was nice to meet you, but unfortunately, we have to get going.” Standing really quick, I thrust my hand out to catch the chair that was about to fall, and pray he doesn't follow us. Making my way to the front of the store, Paison walks out first and then signals for me to walk in front of him. 

We exit the coffee shop and into the alley behind it. I feel the insecurity burst through my body, and lose hold of the invisible string inside my head that holds my powers essence. With the power flowing through my blood, I yell at Mason to take cover, and let the adrenaline out with a raging scream that brings me to my knees. Shooting into the world around us bright white light surrounds us before fading into the abyss. Looking up, I lock eyes with a mysterious man that is running toward us at full speed. I then go crashing to the floor, and get swallowed up into the nightmares that seem to follow me everywhere.