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203- Beads and bonding
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Strings of Fate 1- Wine and witches
I pause for a moment to adjust my uncomfortable high heeled shoe. It's black to match my waitresses’ uniform which I honestly find to be too provocative for what is supposedly an upscale restaurant. Sex sells I guess, not that I would ever let a customer touch me that way. Borderline is one of the few places in the city that allows both normal customers and Magics, so despite the long hours, barely adequate pay and uncomfortable uniform, it is perfect for me as one of the only places that will hire someone who is marked but has no marketable magic skills. Like all children, I was tested for magic when I was only a few days old. Since my specific bloodline is unknown and my magic is unidentifiable, I was marked with a delicate swirling pattern around my upper right arm. While labeling everyone according to their species might seem concerning, it actually saves a lot of lives. Most species have weaknesses that are much easier to avoid if they aren't shoved in your face by some oblivi
Strings of Fate 2- Shifters and Scribbles
Trying to distract myself from the mysterious blue thread, I work harder than I ever have in my life. Sadly, my tips don't show it. The customers who come here really do tend to be rather snobby. I am watching the clock as I work.About an hour has passed when I finally allow myself to glance at my blue thread again. I gasp as I realise that the person it is connected to is in the restaurant right now. It leads to a woman sitting at table thirteen. She looks to be in her early twenties like me and has pitch black hair with a slight wave to it cascading down her back. It is only a couple inches shorter than mine. Her skin is tan and even from over here I can see she is absolutely stunning. Trying to keep my nervousness from my face, I approach the table to take her order. As I come close, she looks up and meets my eyes and I am surprised to see they are a golden yellow colour. I glance down at her arm. She is wearing a gorgeous black dress that is probably worth more than I make in a
Strings of Fate 3- Comfort and cookies
I finish the last few hours of my shift in a blur. Despite the unexpected proposal, I am over the moon. My first real friend at last. Anthony gives me a funny look as I give him a cheerful wave on my way out, something I have definitely never done before. My feet are killing me as I begin the fifteen-minute walk to my apartment. I've only been walking about five minutes when I give up on my heels entirely and just take off my shoes and carry them. I walk along the pavement in my stockings and hope that there isn't any broken glass or sharp rocks on my path. It's just after ten pm when I reach my home. I sigh and begin to climb the stairs. I live on the third floor of a tiny, cramped and somewhat rundown building. At least the rent is cheap and the landlady is the sweetest woman. Probably the closest thing I have to an actual friend. She is a little old lady, human, but unusually accepting of Magics. She lives off the rent from the residents of the building and spends her days in h
Strings of Fate 4- Slippers and surprises
I wake to a loud banging sound. It takes me a moment to realise it is someone knocking really, really loudly on my front door. I groan and pick up my phone to check the time. Eight twenty-two AM. Who could possibly be visiting me? Maggie should be at the markets right now and Logan on his way to school, besides, neither of them would ever knock so... aggressively. I force myself to climb out from under my covers and shiver as the cool morning air hits me. I glance in the mirror as I pass it and realise my ponytail from the night before has twisted and now sits awkwardly on one side of my head with half my hair pulled loose in a weird loop. I pull the tie from my hair and slip it over my wrist. The banging continues.“I'm COMING, chill out already would you.” I grumble. Oddly enough the banging does actually stop. Whoever is on the other side of the door clearly has great hearing if they heard what I just said. That or they gave up on me answering and went home. I hope for the latt
Strings of Fate 5- Neighbours and nastiness
The more time I spend with this Shifter, the more I begin to think fate got it wrong. I wonder if there is a way to break threads or get rid of them in some way. I've never seen it happen before. Even in death people are tied together. I once walked past a cemetery and saw an old man visiting his wife's grave. The red thread still flowed from his chest and vanished down into the ground connecting him forever to his beloved. It was depressing but also sort of romantic in a morbid kind of way. I glanced back at the man sitting at the table across from me. I can't imagine being linked with him forever. I really hope fate knows what it's doing, giving me this man as my soul mate.“Yes, I will be friends with your twin sister. It is fated.” He scowls at me.“You aren't even a Shifter, why would fate want you to be friends with my sister?” Now it’s my turn to scowl back at him.“What does that have to do with anything? Everyone has a fate Mr Kane, regardless of the circumstances of their
Strings of Fate 6- Abductions and alphas
Paul swears and raises a hand towards me, but it never connects. Bellamy catches him by the wrist and holds him firmly. When he speaks his tone is deadly.“Get out. Never speak with Ryann again. I suggest you look into finding other accommodations since you are so against the presence of Magics.” He doesn't make any threats, but his tone and the look in his eyes is enough. Bellamy releases Paul who backs away before fleeing down the stairs to his own apartment. I had hoped that this neighbour might last a little longer than the last few, it seemed it wasn't going to happen. Note-to-self: apologise to Maggie for scaring off her residents. I sigh.“I shouldn't have done that. He didn't need to know that I'm a Magic. Now Maggie is going to have to get a new resident for the second floor again. She did warn me that he didn't seem terribly open minded.” I grumble, more to myself than to Bellamy. He shrugs. Suddenly he seems a lot less hostile, in the last minute he's changed from oppos
Strings of Fate 7- Demands and denials
“Or maybe I can just tell my shift manager that I have to leave...” Shaun grabs my hand and places it on his arm. I want to yank it away but I feel like I probably shouldn't antagonise this guy, at least not until I'm sure he's not a threat. Seeing no real option but to go along with it, I leave my arm there and allow him to lead me from the restaurant. There is a black car parked out front. Shaun opens the door for me to get in and climbs in beside me. Aaron makes his way to the drivers seat. I rack my mind to consider why a Shifter Alpha would want to see me. Something to do with Bellamy of course, but what? Had he made some complaint about me? Or had he somehow figured out that I was his soul mate and planned to drag me kicking and screaming to the Shifter compound? The fact that he has involved his Alpha is hardly promising. I don't know a lot about Shifter politics and rules, but I do know that, to a Shifter, their Alpha is the highest authority that they answer to. If I am
Strings of Fate 8- Tests and tombstones
“You're right.” He grumbles out.“Excuse me?” I question. He repeats himself.“You're right okay? I should have tried asking you first. I will try to remember to do so in the future. I have been worried about my sister and after hearing she got engaged I might have gone a little out of control. Don't worry about your job. I know the man who owns Borderline, I will make sure you don't get in trouble for missing your shift today.” He takes a deep breath and releases it.“I am hoping that you will agree to help me protect my sister by further investigating Tristan.” He manages to keep his voice calm but seems uncomfortable. I do notice that he hasn't actually apologised. But I guess admitting he is wrong is the first step.“I thought you didn't really believe in my power?” My tone makes the statement a question. Bellamy shrugs.“I'm not sure I do. Maybe it is just because you seem to be the only other person around here who is suspicious of Tristan, but I find I really want to trust you.
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Strings of Fate 203- Beads and bonding
“Well, I think that it might actually be nice having an extra person around the house. Extra security and company. Besides, you spend most of your time here anyway. Might as well save you the commute. That is, as long as no one else has any objection?” I say pointedly looking at Megan. Sure, Bellamy could object but I already know that he won’t. Megan briefly makes eye contact with me, gives a slight nod, then finds something to stare at on the ceiling. She is clearly trying to look like she doesn’t care but she is blushing bright red. True to form, Darrien is watching her closely trying to work out how she really feels about my suggestion. Realising that she isn’t going to provide any input, he decides to push it a little. “Megan? I would like to hear your opinion. I am still courting you and I don’t want to screw anything up by making a decision like this without your input.” Darrien says clearly. His voice is mostly calm with just the slightest hint of anxiety as he monitors her r
Strings of Fate 202- Calories and clothing
I wake up late in the morning, it might even be early afternoon. I wriggle around a little which prompts Bellamy to do the same, he is apparently already awake. He raises a finger to his lips to shush me before I speak and I can see why. Kiara is still sleeping, lying in the bed between us. She is still loosely holding onto my arm, even in sleep. I slowly disentangle myself from her light grip and slide out of bed. Bellamy follows, clearly doing his best not to jostle her and wake her up. She definitely needs the sleep. She was restless for a good part of the night and almost definitely was having nightmares, but she seems like she’s sleeping soundly now. My own sleep was blissfully quiet. No visions or anything thank goodness. I’m looking forward to having several weeks of steady sleep and so help me if anything tragic or dramatic happens for the next few weeks then whoever is responsible should probably be terrified of me. We step into the hallway to talk without disturbing Kiara.
Strings of Fate 201- Touch and trust
I cross my arms in irritation. “Kiara would never! How would she even do that? She’s just a kid!” I object. Dr Dae rolls her eyes at me.“Oh calm yourself girl. I’m not saying she chose to murder anyone. I assume that she was forced to comply somehow. You’ll have to ask the girl when she’s ready to talk. As for the how, the child is a Reaper.” She says it as if it’s obvious but it really isn’t. I know that Reapers exist, but they’re the kind of Magic that most people have heard of but no one has ever met. I suppose Kiara’s dad must have been a Reaper too and why the MRO was so secretive about her markings. Most people are kind of scared of Reapers, they’re kind of the boogeymen of our society. Mostly because they can kill on a whim. All it takes is one touch and they can free your soul from your body. Obviously with no soul you die, and I guess your soul moves on to wherever souls go when you pass on. I suppose that a Reaper would make sense for the representative of Atropos. Her add
Strings of Fate 200- Healing and hunger
Since Kiara probably isn’t up to braving the stairs and she really doesn’t want to be carried around everywhere, we decide to ask Dr Dae to come up to the bedroom. It’s actually kind of weird having so many people in here. Bellamy is a fairly private person, he doesn’t generally invite people to hang out in his… our room. Dr Dae shuffles in clutching her usual bag. I’m surprised that Bellamy isn’t carrying it for her because it looks kind of heavy, but I suspect that she wouldn’t hand it over anyway. I immediately greet her.“Thank you so much for your help. Your contact has become a great friend and she’s a huge part of the reason we were able to find Kiara here.” I nudge Kiara gently with my elbow and give her a little smile. She looks very small and delicate in the oversized, mismatched clothes with her hair dripping down her shoulders. She’s so pale that the bruises on her skin stand out and look even worse than they actually are. Dr Dae gives me a half nod of acknowledgement then
Strings of Fate 199- Clean and covered
We all turn to face Alex in confusion. I glance up at Bellamy to see if he has any idea what’s going on but he looks just as lost as the rest of us. I continue to stroke Kiara’s hair trying to keep her calm. “Explain.” Bellamy says firmly. Alex flushes red under the attention of everyone in the room. “Uh, well. I assisted Miss Gale in updating her registration with the MRO, and uh, since her position is one of… well almost authority, over the fate’s representatives the updated registration reflects this. So she should be able to make decisions about Kiara’s care like an Alpha would for their Shifters or like a Coven leader would for their Witches. Admittedly it’s a very small group of Magics, but according to the Magic Registration Office, she is in charge of it.” He explains, his voice starts off weak but gets stronger as he becomes more confident in what he’s saying. The police seem a little stunned but I guess Alex isn’t technically wrong. If Kiara were a Shifter, her Alpha would
Strings of Fate 198- Stolen and sure
When we pull up to the house, there’s a police car waiting. There are two cops standing by it, one looks bored and irritated and the other has a fake ‘customer service’ type smile plastered on his face that I know well from experience. Yeah neither of these guys want to be here. They’re probably pissed that we made them come down here. Not to mention uncomfortable being in the Shifter compound. Non-Shifters aren’t invited here often, although I suppose that isn’t exactly true anymore with all our new friends stopping by regularly. Standing beside them looking awkward and uncomfortable is Alex. I bet they’ve been taking their impatience out on him. I narrow my eyes at them and prepare myself. One snotty comment and I am going to tear into them, it’s been a long night. Bellamy parks the car and I wait for him to get out. He speaks with the police briefly and Alex escorts them inside the house. Bellamy returns and opens the door next to Kiara. “Hey, can I help you get inside? The police
Strings of Fate 197- Leaving and leaning
As we step outside, I’m confused to find that I actually have no idea where we are. I really was just running and following the tracking spell. I don’t know how far I ran. It’s a good thing the others are here to bring back the cars because I would be wandering all night trying to find my way back. I’m also fairly sure that I left my phone in the car when I jumped out in a hurry. Kiara clutches my hand tightly as the cars pull up on the street in front of us. “Megan, Darrien. You stay here and speak to the police when they arrive. Direct further questions to me. Shaun, you stay with them too.” Bellamy directs as Shaun hops out the car. At Megan’s insistence he stays a good couple of metres away from us.“Yes Alpha Kane.” He responds cheerfully. Aaron and Rio also climb out of the vehicles. Rio stops to chat with one of the other Shifters whose name I still don’t know. Aaron immediately approaches me. Actually a better way to phrase it is that he storms over. He looks almost angry. Or
Strings of Fate 196- Rescue and retreat
Darrien is the closest to her and he sees her at the same time I do. He takes a step towards her and she whimpers in fear. He freezes and backs away slowly, trying not to startle her. I gesture for everyone else to stay back and take a few steps closer. I stop a good metre away from the little table and then slowly lower myself to the floor. Kneeling down so that I can see her properly. Kiara is covered in soot and I can see little trails of tears smudging around on her face. She is still crying and whimpering. I am careful to keep my voice gentle and calm. “Kiara?” I call her name. She doesn’t answer or look up, but her whimpering quiets a little and I can see her tensing up like she’s listening carefully. “Kiara sweetheart. You’re safe now. You can come out. We can get some something to eat, you can have a nice bath and some clean clothes. How does that sound?” I try to sound soothing. Her crying stops and she looks up at me with wide, teary, red-rimmed eyes. She doesn’t
Strings of Fate 195- Smoke and smothering
Look, I’m no fighter and the Shifters move way faster than I can even properly process in this stressful situation. I watched the Shifter woman leap towards the redhead (I have got to learn these people’s names!) and the next thing I know, both women are screaming and the living room is lit up with blue flames that are steadily growing. I watch as Shaun and Darrien leap at the Shifter woman and help her tear off her burning shirt. Bellamy takes the chance to shift and a few moments later his large black cat form is launching towards the Witch in an attempt to knock her down. He pulls back at the last second as flames light up in front of him, spreading and essentially splitting the room in half with us on one side and the Witch on the other. She’s completely trapped, both by us and the fire which is steadily going out of control. There is smoke in the air making it hard to see what’s going on and the smoke in the air is making it difficult to breathe. My throat is so dry and my lung
